CJ Martha Koome announces Judiciary-media training partnership

Chief Justice Martha Koome says partnership will be instrumental in educating Kenyans. [Collins Kweyu,Standard]

The Judiciary has partnered with the Kenya Editors Guild and the Kenya Judiciary Academy to train court reporters.

In a statement on Tuesday, Chief Justice Martha Koome noted that the partnership would be instrumental in educating Kenyans on the role of the Judiciary.

CJ Koome observed that judges and judicial officers often get discouraged when court proceedings or court decisions are misreported by reporters.

“To facilitate our mutual endeavour of securing access to justice for all Kenyans, this partnership will yield the outcome of a better, more informed citizenry able to advance and own their power as agents of justice,” said Koome.

In addition, the Chief Justice termed the media and the Judiciary as “accountability twins” who serve as checks on the functioning of the State.

"The two institutions also play a role in societal development as they work towards bringing to the fore the various problems in the society and nudging the duty-bearers to work towards the resolution of such problems," she added.

On matters 2022 elections, Koome acknowledged that the settlement of electoral disputes has a bearing on State stability.

The Judiciary has, consequently, established the Judiciary Committee on Elections (JCE).

“The Committee is implementing a work-plan that is geared towards ensuring that the Judiciary is prepared to handle the pre-election and post-election disputes during the 2022 election," she added.

The work-plan will include a comprehensive training schedule for all judges, judicial officers, and judicial staff on matters of electoral law, especially emerging issues and areas of law reform and full activation of e-justice.

The committee, in collaboration with the Kenya Judiciary Academy, will train 120 judges, 480 magistrates and 400 Judicial staff.

The trained officials will handle any surge in the number of disputes lodged in the courts.

"The Judiciary is ready to defend the fairness and integrity of the electoral process by enforcing the electoral standards and norms stipulated in the Constitution and electoral laws."