Kisii community asked to embrace AJS
A Judge of the Court of Appeal has urged residents of Kisii County to embrace the Alternative Judiciary System (AJS) to ease the backlog of cases in the courts.
Speaking during a workshop that brought on board members from the Gusii Council of Elders and community leaders to be trained as AJS adjudicators, representatives and trainers from the Judiciary and officers from the department of Lands and Physical Planning, Hon. (Justice) Prof. Joel Ngugi regretted that the majority of pending court cases in the area are related to land disputes yet they can be solved through Alternative Despute Resolution (ADR) mechanisms and AJS.
Justice Ngugi, who also chairs the National Steering Committee on the Implementation of AJS policy promoting ADR mechanisms to enhance access to justice in Kenya, noted that the Constitution of Kenya Article 159 (2)(c) provides for promotion of Traditional Disputes Resolution (TDR) mechanisms as a form of restoring justice.
Kisii County has been faced by land conflicts, some of which have made headlines because they are either grievous or fatal.
Shrinking ancestral land as the population balloons, competing land uses leading to land fragmentation have also been registered as causes of land conflict.
All these matters clog the formal courts, and the Judiciary has been stretched by budgetary and personnel challenges as it clears the backlog of land cases.
The County Executive Committee in Charge of Lands and Physical Planning Grace Nyarango said the conflicts include family disputes arising from land succession and inheritance, boundary conflicts among landowners and illegal transactions on land.
The CEC observed that the County Integrated Development Plan (2023-2027) highlights lack of title deeds especially in rural areas, grabbing of public land, increased population
growth and high land fragmentation as major obstacles to the community peaceful co-existence.
The two-day workshop is funded by the EU-FAO Digital Land Governance Programme in partnership with the Judiciary and the County Department of Lands.
Kisii magistrate Hon. Benard Omwansa and County Land Registrar Charles Ayienda echoed Justice
Ngugi's setments and thanked FAO for the training saying it will equip participants with the knowledge of AJS and the imperatives with regard to access to justice as well as equip them in their capacities as legal aid providers to lead in the implementation of AJS initiatives.
Sebastian Menza, the FAO Land Technical Specialist said the training will create a linkage between the Judiciary, the Department of Lands and the Gusii Council of Elders, to seamlessly enhance access to justice, while freeing more land for agriculture among other uses.
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