Justice
Chief Justice Martha Koome has launched a High Court and the Alternative Justice Systems (AJS) in Isiolo County to ensure judiciary services are accessible to every citizen.
In addition to the High Court, Koome also launched the County Action Plan and Model for Isiolo AJS through which the residents take ownership of their justice processes to resolve disputes within their communities.She encouraged the area residents to embrace disputes resolution through AJS as it draws from the traditional justice system that had been known to local communities for generations.
The CJ said the AJS promotes reconciliation, foster social harmony and encourage peaceful co-existence within communities. She added that through the action plan, communities living in the County including Samburu, Borana, Mru, Somali, Turkana, Kikuyu and other minority ethnic groups could live peacefully.
Koome said the AJS action plan for Isiolo would be crucial in addressing emerging land disputes linked to the LAPSSET Infrastructural Development Project and other conflicts over access to natural resources like water and pastures among the pastoralist communities.
The Isiolo AJS suite was established at the Law Court, which is an ideal space for conducting proceedings. She said the court would collaborate with the County government as partners in quest to increase access to justice by area people especially in getting land for developing physical infrastructures to house courts across the county.
The Chief Justice was accompanied by Isiolo county governor Abdi Ibrahim Guyo, High court Judges and other stakeholders.
She had earlier led the team in the installation of Isiolo High Court Judge, and the opening of a building that will be used to host AJS hearings at the Isiolo court grounds.
According to the CJ, the judiciary will keep devolving justice systems by extending judicial services where they are limited due to the marginalization occasioned by previous policy approaches. She added that the judiciary aims to establish a high court in all the counties and a magistrate court in every constituency in the country as a way of increasing access to justice for citizens.
She emphasized on the importance of people-centered solutions to solving disputes through the AJS that has always been used since time immemorial and was the way to go. Isiolo governor said that the county government would partner with the Judiciary to establish court rooms in Garbatula and Merti sub-counties.
Guyo said that the county was ready to donate land for the establishment of magistrate courts for the two sub-counties which are far distances from Isiolo town. According to Dr. Steve Okoth from the National Steering Committee on the implementation of AJS, the justice system should continue embracing the traditional and cultural aspects of communities in the implementation of justice.
The chairman of Isiolo council of elders Abdulahi Gonjobe urged for incentives to motivate elders to continue the AJS work, which he said has been done since time immemorial, but is now being done in a more mainstream manner to help courts solve the backlog of cases.