Babu Owino holding a meeting with judges, Magistrates advocates & Police

Indexed: 2026-05-22

[00:00:00]court, then we go to the court, as you are aware, the court.

[00:00:05]Thank you so much.

[00:00:07]Thank you everyone.

[00:00:09]I will now request all of us to rise up as we welcome our judge to give a welcome remarks on the keynote address.

[00:00:16]Thank you very much, our judge.

[00:00:24]>> [applause] >> Um, have a seat. Thank you very much.

[00:00:30]Uh, we are going to be as brief as possible. When you see a member of parliament in the house, just look at him. He'll keep on looking at his watch.

[00:00:39]So, we are going to make sure that we do not take so much of your time. Uh, the police officers are also here. They have to go back. So, I will just begin reading my remarks. Honorable members of parliament, aspiring senator, the in-charge court annex litigation secretary, honorable colleagues present, the chair, Law Society of Kenya, Nairobi branch, the county commissioner, Nairobi, the county attorney, Nairobi city county, our critical justice partners, the ODPP, the DCI, the National Police Service, the Kenya Prison Service, the Probation Department, and the Children's Department, representatives from civil society and human rights organizations, distinguished ladies and gentlemen, good morning once again.

[00:01:32]When I look around this room, I don't just see stakeholders.

[00:01:37]I don't see titles or institutions or job descriptions.

[00:01:42]I see guardians of the social contract.

[00:01:45]I see men and women whose work determines whether an ordinary citizen walks in a courthouse with hope or with despair.

[00:01:54]It is therefore with great honor and deep humility that I welcome you all to this inaugural county court users committee meeting convened under the supervisory jurisdiction of the High Court at Kibera.

[00:02:10]Today is not another institutional gathering.

[00:02:13]Please don't let it become one.

[00:02:17]Today is a statement, a collective declaration that justice in Dagoretti, in Kibera, in Embakasi is not the business of judges and magistrates alone.

[00:02:30]It cannot be. It is the business of every person in this room and every citizen who lives, works, and seeks protection within the boundaries of our courts.

[00:02:42]The County Court Users Committee framework established under the NCAJ is not ceremonial. Don't mistake it for what it is a governance platform, an accountability platform designed for moments exactly like this to bring the entire ecosystem of the justice chain around our table, united by one purpose to ensure that justice is not only done, but accessible, timely, and trusted.

[00:03:13]As the presiding judge of the Kibera High Court, I exercise supervisory jurisdiction over Kibera, Dagoretti, and JKIA law courts together with about 20 police stations within this areas. These courts sit at the heart of some of the most dynamic, densely populated, and socially significant parts of Nairobi County.

[00:03:34]They serve millions of Kenyans every year.

[00:03:37]Ordinary Wananachi seeking justice, victims protection, accused persons demanding fair trial rights, children in conflict with the law, investors, families, small businesses, travelers, advocates, and the most vulnerable members of our society, people who look to the judiciary as their final refuge, their beacon of hope.

[00:04:02]But, let me be honest with you.

[00:04:04]I would be failing in my duty if I stood here today and spoke only of beautiful aspirations without first confronting our realities.

[00:04:14]We [laughter] meet today under the lingering shadow of June 2025.

[00:04:19]We all remember the flames.

[00:04:21]The courts under my jurisdiction faced unprecedented threats to our physical infrastructure and institutional integrity.

[00:04:29]Those were not isolated events. They were a mirror held up to all of us reflecting the depth of public frustration, the vulnerability of our state institutions, and the absolute urgency of our shared responsibility.

[00:04:47]At Dagoretti Law Courts, a court that serves thousands of ordinary Kenyans, sections of the building were vandalized and partially burnt.

[00:04:55]Files, records, and the tools of justice were placed at risk. Operations were disrupted. Those who needed the court most, persons seeking bail, those appearing for hearings, victims waiting to be heard, and families waiting for justice were turned away.

[00:05:12]At Jomo Kenyatta, situated within one of the two one of Kenya's most sensitive national security and economic zones, the threat of perpetra- protesters, rather, overrunning the airport access zone jeopardized not only the court, but national security and international commerce. It was a stark reminder of how interconnected our institutions truly are.

[00:05:36]At Kibera Law Courts, if you may recall, in the heart of the community that has historically felt on the margins of the justice system, demonstrations disrupted proceedings and placed at risk judicial officers, litigants, advocates, staff, and members of the public.

[00:05:55]Let me be brutally honest with you.

[00:05:58]Those were not just attacks on physical buildings. They were attacks on the promise of Article 159 of our Constitution. What happens when a courthouse is forced to bolt its doors due to insecurity?

[00:06:11]Bail and plea processes freeze. Victims of crime are left stranded. Suspects languish in cells without their constitutional timelines being met.

[00:06:21]Justice ceases to be a right and becomes a privilege. [laughter] These events taught us a powerful lesson.

[00:06:29]Courts are not isolated islands. They are direct mirrors of the social, political, and economic health of our communities, and they must never be left to face these storms alone. And that's why you are all here.

[00:06:44]Yet, even as the demand for justice grows exponentially, our courts are operating under immense strain. Justice must not only be done, but it must be administered in an environment of safety, health, and human dignity. As I speak to you today, the physical state of the infrastructure across [laughter] our jurisdiction is in a severe crisis, directly undermining public confidence.

[00:07:08]At Jomo Kenyatta and honorable Bob Awino, and that's why I invited you. One of the busiest and most strategically located courts in the country.

[00:07:19]Court two operates from chambers, a 10 by 10 room, because there is no designated courtroom. Judicial officers conduct proceedings in spaces never designed for public hearings, exposing both staff [laughter] and court users to operational and security risks. The court also suffers from dilapidated infrastructure, persistent roof leakages, and flooding during rainy storms. At the Gura Law Courts, there are no public toilet facilities for court users. They have to run back to their houses and come back to court.

[00:07:53]Sometimes they do their business just behind trees and buildings.

[00:07:58]Files and exhibits are stored in staff working areas because there's no proper registry space. The station struggles with inadequate office space and persistent water shortages due to a non-functional At Kibera Law Courts, sections of the buildings are deteriorating with visible cracks and severe roof leakages. The access road is badly damaged and congested.

[00:08:22]Garbage is dumped on the entrance of the at the entrance [laughter] of the court and there is raw open sewage at the gate. These are conditions completely inconsistent with the constitutional vision of dignified people-centered justice.

[00:08:37]The condition of our courts today reflects a broader national conversation about access to justice, about the dignity of public institutions, about constitutional governance. These are not merely infrastructure problems. These are justice challenges.

[00:08:53]Because when litigants walk through sewage to access a courtroom, when witnesses sit in a flooded corridors, when courtrooms operate from unsafe spaces, when judicial infrastructure deteriorates, public confidence in justice is weakened and it wins.

[00:09:11]And yet, despite these challenges, our courts continue to serve.

[00:09:16]That is why today's conversation matters. That is why your presence matters, Mheshimiwa.

[00:09:22]Honorable member of parliament, you are the legislative voice of the commitments these courts serve.

[00:09:28]You are uniquely positioned to champion peaceful civic engagement, to protect constitutional rights, and to ensure that public participation does not undermine the institutional foundations of our democracy.

[00:09:44]You also have access to platforms and resources that can make a practical difference. Today, I respectfully ask you for your partnership, honorable member.

[00:09:56]I urge you to consider supporting our course and other up through CDF [laughter] and other appropriate mechanisms, including the acquisition of construction materials for decent public sanitation blocks at Dagoretti Law Courts.

[00:10:10]At JKA Law Courts, we urgently require support of a container, a 20 by 20 container structure to serve as a second courtroom so that the court can match its growing workload at strategic national importance.

[00:10:27]That is a court that handles transnational organized crimes, including drug trafficking, wild wild drug trafficking, and human trafficking. The current situation is untenable.

[00:10:39]At Kibera Law Courts, the access road urgently requires improvement and recarpeting. Access to justice begin with physical access. In If one day a fire breaks out in Kibera, all of us will die because there is no escape route.

[00:10:57]If a litigant cannot safely reach the court, justice has already failed before proceedings begin.

[00:11:03]>> [clears throat] >> To our security partners, the OCPDs, the DCIOs, officers in charge of stations, and all security agencies represented here, your partnership remains critical.

[00:11:14]The relation and security agencies is not adversarial. It is complementary.

[00:11:21]When courts are secure, justice functions effectively. When justice functions eff- become safer.

[00:11:30]To our security partners, The officers commanding police divisions, the DCIOS, the officers in charge of Jomo Kenyatta and all represented here. Your cooperation is the backbone of our court's physical national continuity. The relationship between the judiciary and the security sector is complementary.

[00:11:54]To our partners from the office of the DPP, probation, the children's office, Immigration and agencies represented here, you are pillars of the justice chain. Every case that moves efficiently from arrest to resolution, from charge to disposal, from conflict to accountability is the result of your coordination with with the courts.

[00:12:18]To our civil society partners, International Justice Mission, Justice Defenders Legal Resource Foundation, National Legal Aid Service, Women's Link Worldwide, the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights and others, you are the bridge between institutions and the vulnerable.

[00:12:36]You carry the voices of those who cannot always carry themselves into our courts.

[00:12:41]Your presence today affirms that justice must remain human-centered.

[00:12:47]In return, the judiciary commits to partnership. We commit to transparency.

[00:12:51]We commit to accountability. We commit to holding this forum regularly, not as a one-off event, but as a standing platform for genuine multi-sector justice governance.

[00:13:04]We commit to Article 159 and 73 of the Constitution, which calls on us to deliver justice