Justice Hillary Chemitei has lamented the slow pace in which the prosecution at Kabarnet High court was taking to conclude cases leading to a huge backlog being experienced in the court.
Chemitei noted that some cases of suspects in the high court have dragged on for too long due to failure by the prosecution to produce witnesses.
“I am so frustrated with the manner in which the prosecution is handling cases in this court and if the trend continues I am going to close all the long time files and release the suspects,” he said.
He expressed concern that there were some cases which have not kicked off since July 2021 yet the suspects have remained in custody for such a long period.
The visiting Nakuru based judge said witnesses from Tiaty sub-county can be excused since it is a far flung area faced with insecurity but noted that cases from other areas which are near the town were also stagnating.
“These suspects have been in for a very long time, from as far as 2015 to 2017 and we are seeing the same trend repeated every day,” he said.
Chemitei who also questioned the investigation department for failing to promptly do their job on time said the delay in determining cases are not only frustrating the affected suspects but also their families who now perceive the court as a slow institution to pursue justice.
He gave out an ultimatum to the prosecution counsel to hasten the process by December this year noting that the government has allocated a lot of resources that are geared towards reducing the backlog of cases in the courts.
At the same time, he challenged the Law Society of Kenya to point out such issues to be acted upon and not to stay quietly when the justice system is heading in a different direction.
Chemitei is holding brief in the station as they await a new judge to be deployed to the court to replace Justice Weldon Korir who was recently elevated to the Court of Appeal and posted to Nakuru.