The Small Claims Court has positively impacted efforts of seeking justice among coastal people.
Launched in 2021, Small Claims Court (SCC) has enabled locals at the grassroot level to seek justice, in cases for example where a dispute does not exceed 1 million shillings claim.
Speaking recently at a public forum in Mombasa, an official from the Small Claims Court, Wycliff Oyugi noted that in 2023 alone over 1,870 cases were registered under the Small Claims Court in Mombasa.
“Most of these cases take only two months to be determined and the complainants get justice,” he said.
Oyugi further noted that Small Claims Court administration has been working with non-governmental organisations and other community groups to create awareness to the locals so that they understand the process of filing cases at the Small Claims Court.
“The discourse is very noble and it has already positively impacted communities where cases are successfully determined and the complainant get justice, some of these parties agree on how they will settle their disputes and indeed this court has transformed the process of access to justice at the very grassroot level,” noted Mr Oyugi.
Addressing the same forum at LASCO hall in Mvita Sub county recently, a non-governmental organisation Sisters For Justice Executive Director Naila Abdallah acknowledged that Small Claims Court has left a mark in the quest for justice among locals in Mombasa.
Ms Abdallah said that the Organisation has been conducting civic education at the grassroot level to enable communities be aware of the Small Claims Court and being able to use them.
“We realised that most people are not aware of this government institution that can actually enable them seek justice at their locality that is why we are on the ground creating awareness and actually helping them make use of these Small Claims Court,” noted Naila.
She said that they have accelerated the grassroot campaigns to reach the coastal communities who in return will value the SCC and directly use them in seeking justice.
According to Chief Justice Martha Koome, the Small Claims Court has solved over 50,000 cases countrywide since its inception.
The Small Claims Court was established by the Small Claims Act 2016, which was assented to on April, 2016 and later amended by the Small Claims Court (Amendment) Act, 2020. The Court was gazetted in 2021.
