Chief Justice David Maraga
NAIROBI, April 21 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A plan to reopen Kenyan courts that are not equipped with video conferencing facilities has been met with opposition from judges and magistrates.
Chief Justice David Maraga had announced that court sessions will be done in open spaces starting Wednesday once the ministry of health gives a go ahead.
But three judiciary workers’ associations have said the health of their members is paramount and that several guidelines should be followed before courts can reopen.
They want all premises fumigated, the number of staff allowed inside regulated and those without means of private transport picked and dropped by judiciary vehicles among others, according to a joint letter by the associations to Maraga.
The associations also want all workers aged above 58 years be allowed to work from home.
Some courts in bigger towns have been holding sessions through video conferencing. Others have held sessions in open spaces – adhering to the one metre distance between people.
Meanwhile, the authorities in Kenya have put 455 people in quarantine facilities after they defied a curfew imposed to curb the spread of Covid-19.
They had warned that violators would be held at the facilities at their own cost, after a rise in arrests of people in pubs and house parties.
There have also been claims of people bribing police to be allowed through roadblocks in and out of restricted towns, which include the capital, Nairobi.
Kenya has 33 active quarantine centres.
Health Minster Mutahi Kagwe announced in his briefing on Monday that the government was putting up an isolation and treatment centre exclusively for health workers.
All costs will be covered by the government with support from medical organisation Amref and the Rockefeller Foundation, he said.
Kagwe also said four more Covid-19 testing kits had been approved for use in Kenya, as the country rolls out mass testing.
Kenya has confirmed 281 Covid-19 cases and 14 deaths. — NNN-AGENCIES