Mombasa Law Courts to resume operations on July 2 under strict COVID-19 protocols » Capital News

NAIROBI, Kenya Jun 24 – Open court sessions at the Mombasa Law Courts are set to resume within fourteen days, under stringent coronavirus prevention guidelines, the court registry announced on Wednesday.

Open courts were halted on Friday, June 19, after 11 staff members tested positive for COVID-19.

In a statement, Mombasa Law Courts Deputy Registrar Christine Ogweno said the affected court premises must be fumigated regularly.

Each court is expected to issue a circular on how the respective judges and magistrates will proceed with scheduled matters the 14-day quarantine period which commenced on June 19.

Further, Ogweno added that plea taking in criminal cases will be conducted virtually while ICT coverage within the court premises shall be improved.

Chief Justice David Maraga suspended open court sessions in Mombasa on Friday and said about 118 officers within the courts who were primary contacts to the infected persons had been identified and were undergoing mandatory self quarantine as directed by the Ministry of Health.

The affected courts are the Main Court, the City Court and Tononoka Children’s Court.

The Judiciary had scaled down its activities in March as part of measures to contain the spread of the virus, but later issued guidelines for gradual resumption of open courts.

Following appeals from the Law Society of Kenya and increased backlog of cases, courts resumed normal operations guided by social distancing protocols.