Mombasa Open Court Services Suspended after 11 Staff Test Positive

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Mombasa Open Court Services Suspended after 11 Staff Test Positive

All open court sessions in the coastal city of Momabsa are suspended until further notice. Chief Justice David Maraga made the announcement after 11 staff members tested positive for the novel Covid-19.

In a statement issued on Friday CJ Maraga said the 11 are part of the 117 new cases announced by Health CAS Dr. Rashid Aman on Friday evening.

The statement also revealed that over a hundred people who were in contact with the Judiciary staff have been traced and will go for mandatory quarantine.

“They include Judiciary officers and registry staff. Additionally, their primary contacts within the courts totalling 118 officers have been identified and must now go into self-quarantine with immediate effect as directed by the Ministry of Health officials,” Maraga said.

Maraga said the affected courts are the Main Court Building, the City Court and the Tononoka Children’s Court.

"We shall, however, as much as possible, endeavor to offer online and other virtual services to court users," the CJ said. 

The suspension of the court activities in Mombasa comes barely a week after they were reopened following closure in March 24 this year.

Ahead of the reopening of courts on Monday, Mombasa Chief Magistrate Evans Makori had told the media that they would take at least two weeks to fully reopen to the public.

This is after a committee comprising of sanitary, civil and criminal court staff had recommended that the station take at least 14 days to open to the public.

“The committee made a raft of recommendations that need to be met before we resume full operations and open the court to the public,” Mr Makori said at the time.

It was recommended that all staff undergo a Covid-19 test. The 11 cases were detected following this mandatory testing.

Other recommendations included having all parties attending the court wear masks and sanitise at the designated areas before accessing the court rooms.

The courts were to also conduct two or three hearings per day depending on the technicality and complexity of the cases.

“Cases involving many witnesses and defence counsels will be scheduled depending on the complexity of the case and the nature of the evidence to be adduced.

“Courts to pilot video link hearing of cases in open court with witnesses while in custody,” the committee said.

It had further recommended that only bonded witnesses be allowed in court rooms, and that there would be no mentions in open court for accused persons who are out on bond.

For accused persons in custody, the mentions were to be done via video link. These plans have now been scuttled by the detection of the positive cases.

The contagion is indeed getting in the middle of delivery of justice, as it were interfering with its administration.

Source: Ghetto Radio





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