20 new High Court Judges take Oaths of Office

Twenty High Court Judges took their Oaths of Office on May 14, 2025 in a ceremony presided over by HE William Samoei Ruto.

Chief Justice Martha Koome said the Judges will embark on a Rapid Results Initiative (RRI) in seven divisions of the High Court at Milimani Law Courts to clear 12,000 cases within the next six months.

“In the second phase of the RRI, we are targeting courts in the wider Nairobi Metropolitan Area, which accounts for 30 per cent of the national case backlog, with the aim of resolving an additional 9,417 cases,” said the CJ.

The CJ noted that as at 30th March 2024, the total pending cases before the High Court were 68,121 which meant that the case load per Judge was 873 cases.

Justice Koome said that the Judiciary was committed to ensuring that each of the 47 Counties has access to a High Court.

“Currently, Wajir County lacks a High Court and we intend to establish a sub-registry immediately and arrange periodic visits by a judge, “she said.

She promised to reinstate the presence of permanent High Court judges in Lodwar and Kapenguria, where resident judges were previously withdrawn due to the low number of judges.

The Chief Justice said the issue of prison congestion was been addressed by deploying the judges to oversee Community Service Orders, to reduce the population of inmates.

She noted that as at May 13, 2024, prisons were holding 62,639 inmates, significantly exceeding their capacity of 30,000.

“Through a Rapid Results Initiative for Community Service Orders, we aim to review sentences for those convicted for minor offenses to align the inmate population capacity at the facilities” the CJ noted.

The CJ also stated that the Judiciary had embarked on reviewing the Constitutional and Human Rights Procedure Rules and Judicial Review Procedure Rules to ensure that time-sensitive public interest matters are heard and determined promptly.