Deputy President Kithure Kindiki has issued a stirring call to judges and magistrates across East Africa to quicken the wheels of justice, warning that every delayed ruling affect social-economic growth in the regions .
Speaking in Nairobi during the opening of the 22nd East African Magistrates and Judges Association (EAMJA) Annual Conference, Prof. Kindiki said justice remains the indispensable power of the region’s social and economic transformation.
“When justice is inaccessible, development stalls, inequality widens and the promise of the rule of law becomes hollow,” he said .
Speaking to judicial officers from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo,Kindiki noted that East Africa’s growth and stability cannot flourish without dignified, timely and trusted justice systems.
The DP reaffirmed Kenya’s commitment to strengthening the East African Community (EAC) by supporting robust judicial systems that protect citizens’ dignity and rights.
The second in command painted a picture of overburdened court registries, files that gather dust and litigants especially women, youth and small business owners who he said walk into courtrooms hoping for fairness but leave discouraged by delays.
“Across East Africa, too many of our people still experience formal courts as distant, slow, costly or intimidating spaces for millions, the justice system appears more like a fortress than a support structure.”lamented the DP.
Prof. Kindiki however urged judicial officers to embrace creativity and innovation in dispensing justice.
He welcomed the broader use of Alternative Justice Systems (AJS), Court-Annexed Mediation (CAM), Small Claims Courts and other multi-door approaches that bring dispute resolution closer to the people.
“Justice cannot be confined to stone buildings or rigid procedures It must travel to where people live, work, trade, and build families.”he noted.
He argued that such flexible mechanisms fasten culturally grounded cases to ease pressure and heavy backlog of cases on formal courts.
He further added justice forms the social “software” on which the region’s political and economic architecture is built on the glue that holds nations together and prevents cracks of conflict or division.
While acknowledging gains made in defending human rights, protecting vulnerable groups and expanding women’s participation in public life, Kindiki challenged jurists to broaden their focus to economic and social freedoms.
“We have not asserted the place of individuals and communities to be free from want and poverty this is equally important so social and economic empowerment should go hand-in-hand with civil and democratic empowerment.”he noted.
The DP’s remarks come at a time when East African courts are face mounting caseloads, cross-border disputes and increased pressure from citizens demanding faster, fairer outcomes this according to judges who spoke in the event .
