Lack of funds ground Eldoret court operations

Operations at Eldoret City courts and other areas in the North Rift have been paralyzed due to a severe shortage of essentials including stationery like papers and pens.

The courts have not received funding since May this year causing judges, magistrates and other staff to use their money to buy some of the essentials.

So severe are the shortages that one judicial officer was on Monday forced to adjourn cases and go to town to buy himself pens, papers and files.

Eldoret Chief Magistrate Denmis Mikoyani who is in charge of the court operations confirmed that they had been hit by severe shortages adversely affecting court operations in the region.

“It's true we have not received funding since May and this has greatly affected our operations," said Mikoyani.

He said the Eldoret Water and Sanitation Company (ELDOWAS) had even threatened to disconnect the water supply to the courts due to non-payment of bills.

Mikoyani however pleaded with the water firm not to disconnect the water as the issue of bills was being sorted out.

ELDOWAS commercial services manager Fredrick Kosgei confirmed that they had suspended the disconnection of the water to the courts after negotiating with the judiciary officials.

“We agreed on the way forward and did not disconnect the water to the courts," said Kosgei.

The courts also have pending refunds for witnesses and other essentials for toilets like toilet paper and soap have also run out of supply.

A spot check by the Star revealed that some court officials were operating without files on their desks for new cases which require fresh filing of documents.

“We still use papers and files to a large extent but we have not received supplies for some time now," said one judge in the region.

Other services including cleaning and fueling of vehicles have also been affected in the last five months.

Magistrates have cautioned that should the shortages persist, they may be forced to completely halt operations.

Eldoret City has five judges and more than ten magistrates whose courts have been affected by the shortages.