KAJIADO LAW COURT CONSTRUCTION COMMENCES
The construction site for the new Kajiado High Court building was handed over to Misbah Network Limited Contractors. The new court building will cost Ksh.351million and is expected to take 18 months to complete. The new court will bring justice closer to the residents of the expansive Kajiado County.
The Kajiado Law court will be the 29th court to be constructed supported by the World Bank Group through Judicial Performance Improvement Project that aims at improving access to courts and reducing distances litigants have to travel to receive justice.
Kajiado Law Courts are located in Central Kajiado County. The original Kajiado Law Courts has territorial jurisdiction over East and Central Kajiado sub Counties and this includes among others Kitengela, Namanga, and Mashuru areas.
The first court in Kajiado was started in what is currently the Probation Office. Kajiado County is quite expansive. On the North it borders Nairobi and Machakos Counties. On the North Eastern side it borders Makueni County. On the North Western side it borders Kiambu and Nakuru Counties. On the Western side it boarders Narok County. In the South it borders Tanzania.
Loitokitok, at the foot of Mt Kilimanjaro, is about 290 km away from Kajiado Law Courts, Mashuru on the North Eastern part 80 km away, Namanga at the border with Tanzania about 90 km away, Magadi about 170 away and Suswa on the border with Narok about 250 km away.
From the days of a single magistrate’s court, mobile courts were used to deliver justice to Loitokitok residents. In 2016 a Senior Resident Magistrates Court was established in Loitokitok with Hon Okuche as the first presiding magistrate. In the same year Kajiado became a Chief Magistrate’s Court with the posting of the first Chief Magistrate in June 2016 – Hon. Susan Shitubi. Later the same year a chief magistrate’s court was established in Ngong and Hon Stephen Mbungi deployed to head.
The current Kajiado court building cannot adequately accommodate the staff and other facilities that are essential in the administration of justice and High Court and Magistrates Court services are offered on two different sites owing to lack of space and facilities The new ultra-modern High Court will be built on a 1.7 hectares land and will have 8 court rooms, 9 chambers, a Registry, ICT facilities, access ramps for the physically challenged, a library, separate cells for men, women and juveniles, a library and other facilities.