Chief Justice Martha Koome has said that heads of stations (courts) are drivers of performance in the country, especially in offering leadership to ensure people access justice.
Consequently, CJ Koome said that when the leadership of a station is strong, systems function and people flourish besides taking responsibility and setting standards, saying they are in charge of their output and of their colleagues.
“Heads of Station are the cornerstone of our success. Your role is pivotal in cultivating courts of excellence, and that excellence starts with you,” said Koome while addressing the 12th Annual Heads of Station Forum at a Hotel in Wote town, Makueni County, on Tuesday.
“Leadership is about taking responsibility and setting the standard. As heads of station, you are the drivers of performance, responsible not only for your own output but also for inspiring, guiding and holding your colleagues accountable,” she explained.
The Forum theme was: “Enhancing Access to Justice through Efficient and Sustainable Registry Operations.”
In this regard, Koome, who is also the President of the Supreme Court of Kenya, challenged the 143 Magistrates Court Stations and 14 standalone Kadhi’s Courts to ensure cases were resolved quickly to avoid complaints from litigants and advocates who frequent courts for years.
“The expectation is that cases filed in court should be resolved without undue delay. Litigants do not want to keep returning to court year after year without a resolution. They deserve closure, finality, and certainty. This speaks to the performance of our courts in service delivery,” Koome noted.
During the forum, she revealed that from the first three quarters of the 2024/2025 financial year, 267,385 cases were filed at the Magistrate’s Courts and 269,067 were concluded at a Case Clearance Rate (CCR) of 97.3 per cent.
While calling upon heads of station to supervise those working at registries, she pointed out that the trust of the judiciary has been undermined by the registries across the country due to bribery claims.
Consequently, she said that nothing should be demanded from those seeking justice from our courts while saying there is a need to root out the culture and restore integrity to the registries.
“One area that continues to undermine public trust in the judiciary is the perception and experience of corruption within registries. I have received repeated reports about a deeply entrenched culture of “facilitation” – where services that should be offered as a matter of right are given only upon payment of unofficial fees,” she lamented.
“This is unacceptable. Our work is public trust, and we are already paid salaries to serve the people. The salary our court staff earn each month is the only entitlement to offer service, and we must ensure nothing more is demanded from those who seek justice from our courts,” said the President of the Supreme Court of Kenya.
During the forum, the CJ launched Mahakama Popote Guidelines, which is a transformative set of procedures that governs the Judiciary officers to handle cases virtually from any location across the country using technology.
Koome disclosed that since its inception in October 2022, the platform has registered 17,389 cases and as a result, 12,940 had been concluded by March 2025.
On succession cases, she directed the heads of station to clear all cases that have been pending for over 3 years by conducting rapid Result initiative and finish all that are uncontested by December 2025.
Further, she said that the Judiciary will recruit 100 additional resident magistrates and adjudicators to strengthen judicial capacity besides addressing the burden of work.
Speaking at the same forum, Makueni County Deputy Governor Lucy Mulili regretted the increase of gender-based violence and defilement cases in the county, saying there was a need to resolve the cases quickly.
Also, Mulili noted that many people in the county do not know much about succession matters and said the County has initiated programmes at the ward level to sensitise the people in the county.
By Patrick Nyakundi
