The family is at your doorstep Mr President, do something

By Judy Thongori

It has been an interesting week politically and a sad one in some respects. It was the week that we were told that the judicial budget had been reduced and we were reminded that the President had still not appointed the 25 judges to the High Court.

I was concerned because just last week, I was lamenting about the burden on the Judiciary. Incidentally, I have recently learnt that there is a backlog of over 657,760 cases in the Courts of Kenya and that at least 110,000 cases are filed yearly.

While I agree with the Chief Justice that the high number of filing of cases is an indication of the confidence that people have in the Judiciary, one must ask how long that will last if the cases filed will not to be concluded in time because of lack of judges.

A society that has no confidence in its Judiciary is such a society that we dreamt of escaping from when we gave to ourselves the new Constitution.

That is why the reduction of the budget should be very concerning and also why the delay to appoint the 25 judges is worrying.

Mr President, I am told that the appointment of the judges is now wholly dependent on you. Allow me to plead with you to expedite the same or at least to let us know what might be causing the delay.

On behalf of family law practitioners, allow me to let you in on some information that I appreciate you may not have been given.

At the beginning of 2013, a group of family lawyers sought audience with the Chief Justice. Apart from wanting to let the Chief Justice appreciate the unique needs in the Family Courts, we also wished to lobby for an increase in the number of judges in Nairobi’s Family Division. We told him that the two judges could not cope with the work, even if they worked 12 hours a day.

The Chief Justice promised us that as soon as new judges were appointed, he would ensure that we got another two in the division.

We have been living in hope that that will happen any day and since the JSC completed its work, we have been hoping that you will appoint them.

There are two vacant courtrooms in the Milimani Court, 3rd Floor; Mr President, those courtrooms need to be occupied by judges hearing and determining family cases.

Mr President, when a family is in conflict, it affects not just that family but the politics and the economy of the country.

Some of the leaders we elected have pending family disputes like all other Kenyans. But the difference is that the leaders need to be in several places to represent our interests. If they are affected by family wrangles and lack the presence of mind or the time to represent us, then we lose.

Not too long ago, Mr President you visited a county; one of the leaders had hoped to be there to welcome you but he could not for the reason that only that morning there was a legal dispute over his family.

On the economic front, the Kenyan people that you lead are very hardworking. They work long hours and they are busy investing in real estate and in many other areas.

Mr President, you must know how your people survive against many odds; those with low incomes stretch their low incomes to a point which you can only admire; those without find ways to survive and to bring up their children; they have big dreams for their children. They are hopeful people and do not allow despair overcome them.

These persons can however be stopped by one thing in their tracks; family dispute. It takes away their hope and motivation to work. It takes away their drive to invest.

Mr President if there is a family dispute over any of the properties you see under construction, that construction is likely to come to a halt immediately.

Mr President, we have very potential properties lying idle or under utilised in this country. As people pass such properties that are undeveloped among other developments, they are likely to wonder how such properties remain undeveloped.

The likely answer, my bet would be, is that there is a pending dispute in court. Many times such a dispute is a family dispute.

Please do what is within your power to help resolve the disputes; appoint the judges, your Excellency.