Kenyans Voice Concerns: Judiciary & Police Top Complaints
A report indicates that the Judiciary, the National Police Service, the Ministry of Lands, and Kenya Power are among the state agencies against which Kenyans lodge the most complaints regarding injustices.
The ‘List of Shame’ report by the Commission on Administrative Justice (CAJ) discloses that the agencies receive the highest number of complaints from Kenyans alleging injustice.
The biannual report covering the period between July and December 2022 was submitted to the Senate last week by the commission chaired by Florence Kajuju.
It indicates that the Commission received 1,001 complaints from Kenyans against 70 public institutions and 26 county governments over more than six months.
The report indicates that 462 of these complaints were resolved while 539 were still pending resolution at various action stages, including inquiries, investigations, summons, and show-cause letters.
The Judiciary is at the top of the list, with at least 90 cases lodged against it, according to a report highlighting the various forms of injustice Kenyans face when seeking government services and justice in court.
According to the report of the Ombudsman, Kenyans are dissatisfied with the delayed deliverance of justice, which is caused by the frequent loss of case files and the inefficient and unlawful conduct of staff.
In one of the cases demonstrating inequity, the report states, “The complaint alleged that he was unable to locate the court file in the Nakuru Civil Appeal Court despite making numerous requests to do so.”
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Frequently, Kenyans have complained about the length of time it takes to resolve their cases, but the Judiciary attributes the delays to a lack of magistrates and justices, as well as budgetary constraints.
The National Police Service, which has been criticized for alleged brutality during anti-government demonstrations, has had at least 54 cases lodged against it in the past six months, according to the report.
Complaints include officers’ failure to act on complaints submitted before that date, delays in investigating cases, failure to submit investigation files to ODPP, and bribery.
“The complainant alleges that his younger brother, armed with a machete, attacked and threatened to kill her mother,” states one of the complaints.
“He broke into his mother’s residence and stole various items. He reported the incident to the Thuura police station, but the suspect has not yet been arrested.”
At least 44 lawsuits have been lodged against the Ministry of Lands due to delays in service delivery and the loss of land documents.
The Ministry officials are also said to be impolite and dismissive, with some facilitating double allocations that led to violent physical confrontations.
The report demonstrates that some land officers engage in illicit land transfers, collusion with cartels to encroach on parcels, and bribery to obtain tiles and other services.
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“The complainant alleged that the Land Registrar of Kisumu failed to act in a case involving a double subdivision,” one of the complaints states.
At least 20 cases have been filed against Kenya Power for allegedly incorrect electricity power bills, protracted disconnections, failure to compensate customers for losses caused by power surges, and disruptions causing business losses.
According to the report, the complainant alleged that the officers at the Ruai offices were not responsive to consumers and were not administering justice.
The report also identified the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Health, the National Treasury, the National Social Security Fund, and the Kenya Revenue Authority as the agencies about which the majority of Kenyans complain.
At least fifty complaints have been filed against the Ministry of the Interior, with the majority of cases involving officers in the departments of civil registration and prisons.
They include delays in processing and issuing passports by immigration officers, unlawful evictions by chiefs, and delays in processing ID cards, birth and death certificates.
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At least forty cases have been filed against the Ministry of Education, the majority of which involve the University of Nairobi, Kenya National Examination Council, the Higher Education Loans Board, and secondary school principals.
The report states, “The complainant alleged that the principal instructed her daughter to sign clearance forms and leave the school based on allegations of bullying and lesbianism without carrying out a lawful disciplinary procedure and without indicating whether she was effectively expelled from school.”
The list also includes the Teachers Service Commission, the National Transport and Safety Authority of the Ministry of Roads and Transport, the Kenya Ports Authority, the Kenya Urban Roads Authority, and the Kenya National Highways Authority.
Other agencies include the business registration service, the Sacco Societies Regulatory Authority, the advocate’s complaints commission, the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology, the Kenya Forest Service, the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital, and the National Land Commission.
Kenyans Voice Concerns: Judiciary & Police Top Complaints
