The Senate Justice and Legal Affairs and Human Rights Committee has established that the shortage of magistrates in Mbita law courts has delayed the conclusion of a case in which a nine-year-old girl was allegedly impregnated by her paternal uncle four years ago.
The committee, led by the Chairperson Hilary Sigei, who made a fact-finding visit to the court yesterday, observed that there was a very high caseload for the local Magistrate.
Committee member Catherine Muma said an anonymous whistleblower raised concerns that the case was dragging and the girl’s mother was being intimidated by the accused.
Muma said the girl was defiled by her paternal uncle at Kigoto village in Suba South Sub-County in 2021.
The suspect was arrested and arraigned in Mbita Law Court but the case had not been concluded since 2021 to date.
Muma said upon being released from police custody, the suspect has been intimidating the girl’s mother over the case.
The Senator said she had to present the matter before the Senate for the committee to find out the truth in the whistleblower’s information.
“I received the information from an anonymous whistleblower and we decided to visit this court to find out the authenticity of the information,” Muma said.
She said they spoke to all stakeholders involved in the case and discovered that the information given by the whistleblower was true.
“We have spoken to the girl’s parents, judiciary officials and office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, and established that the whistle blower gave accurate information,” Muma said.
She said the situation needed close attention by both the National Government and the county government to prevent the recurrence of similar cases in the future.
Sigei said their findings revealed that the case had been delayed by systemic issues in the Judiciary, key among them is the shortage of magistrates.
“The court has one magistrate, yet the cases are too many; there are also other courts with similar challenges, hence we are going to make recommendations to address them,” Sigei said.
Makueni Senator Daniel Maanzo said they had established that the matter was still active in the court.
He noted that the girl delivered successfully and is currently in a safe space.
“We have established that the girl who is now 13 years old she is being accommodated in a safe space as the case continues. We hope our recommendations will save the situation,” Sigei said.
By Davis Langat
