This archive report was first published on 27 December 2019.
Kenya's economy is losing billions of shillings due to unresolved trade disputes in courts, which are also denying citizens job opportunities and hindering business growth.
According to a 2019 report by the Court Annexed Mediation (CAM) Committee, 16.7 percent of civil suits referred to mediation since 2016, valued at Sh7.4 billion, were successfully concluded after parties settled their disputes amicably, allowing projects and contracts to proceed as planned.
The regions implementing mediation were Nairobi, Mombasa, Eldoret, Kisumu, Nakuru, Nyeri, Machakos, Garissa, Embu, Kakamega, Kisii, Malindi, and Nyamira.
As of October 3, 2019, the seven Courts/Divisions in Nairobi had referred 1,941 matters for mediation, with 1,542 concluded and 725 matters settled. Regional courts also reported referring 1,828 matters for mediation, with 1,206 concluded and 640 matters marked as settled.
The CAM committee has proposed expanding the arbitration jurisdiction to 11 more regional courts to complement the work done by the inaugural CAM centres. However, this expansion will largely depend on the availability of funds to remunerate mediators, activate CAM registries, and train judges, judicial officers, and staff on the mediation processes.
