For the first time ever, every court in Kenya will have an independent committee to investigate corruption, separate from the government.
This follows a directive by Chief Justice Martha Koome on Tuesday for the formation of court integrity committees to combat corruption within the Judiciary.
The guidelines will also allow real-time sharing of information and collaboration between key entities, including the courts, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), the National Intelligence Service (NIS), the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC), and the National Police Service (NPS) to combat corruption.
“The guidelines we’re launching today are based on our agreement with State House, allowing different state agencies to work together against corruption—not just the courts on their own,” said Koome.
The committees will comprise the presiding judge or head of station as the chairperson, a Law Society of Kenya representative, a representative of the ODPP, a police representative, a civil society representative, a court users committee representative, a court administrator and an integrity officer, and any other person co-opted by the committee.
“We did our investigation and found that there are people hanging around courts, targeting innocent Kenyans for bribes—even when the judges aren’t aware of it. To stop corruption, from now on, every court will have a committee made up of various people, and it’ll report any corruption cases,” said Koome.
EACC will not be a member of the court integrity committee because of the mandate but will play a guidance and training role. The court integrity committees will allow court users to raise integrity concerns, promote ethical compliance and enhance accountability in judicial processes.
“I’m ordering that every judge, before every case starts, read the anti-corruption declaration we gave them, right in front of the public,” said Koome.
The launch of these guidelines will allow various state agencies to collaborate and exchange information directly to catch corrupt individuals in the courts. Courts will get direct reports about corruption claims.
“The EACC has already finished looking into the corruption issues in the judiciary, and we’ve figured out what needs to be done, especially now that we’ll be working together,” said EACC Director Abdi Ahmed Mohamud.
“Once the new information system is up and running, everyone we’re working with will be able to access all the info with just a click. We’re also rolling out body cameras to keep things transparent when the police are doing their job,” added Police IG Douglas Kanja.
DPP Renson Ingonga was also out to strengthen the capacity of his office.
“I’m asking for more funding to hire prosecutors who’ll handle corruption cases and help speed up the process,” said DPP Renson Ingonga.
“We need to protect whistleblowers. The more we see solid evidence of corruption being ignored, the more it chips away at public trust. Judicial efficiency needs to be clear. And the next big question is: How do we get back the stolen money that’s sitting abroad?” posed Law Society of Kenya (LSK) Faith Odhiambo.
The new guidelines kick off right away.
