The European Union (EU) has approved Sh4.5 billion funding to support Kenya's justice sector service delivery and upscale of legal aid services to the poor and vulnerable.
These resources will be channelled through the Programme for Legal Empowerment and Aid Delivery in Kenya (PLEAD).
The five-year programme which will run from January 2023 is the most extensive justice programme funded by the EU in Sub-Saharan Africa in recent years.
The programme's development objective is to support government reforms aimed at transforming the criminal justice sector for the benefit of all citizens and enhancing access to justice especially for the poor and vulnerable by focusing on legal aid.
It also aims at strengthening court administration and case management, increasing quality and efficiency in the criminal justice system, and improving coherence and cooperation throughout the justice sector.
"The EU has a very strong interest in strengthening access to justice and rule of law in Kenya. We want to cultivate a strong relationship with Chief Justice Martha Koome," said Mr Alexandre Baron, European Union Head of Section Governance and Macroeconomics in Kenya.
Mr Baron was speaking in Naivasha during the second National Legal Aid conference which was organised by Egerton University Faculty of Law Legal Aid Project (FOLLAP) and supported by the European Union and UNDP through the Amkeni Wakenya project.
Added Mr Baron: "We want to build on the achievement of PLEAD by acknowledging that the judicial system is as strong as its weakest link," said Mr Baron.
"We're happy with Chief Justice Martha Koome's remarkable achievement before and after her appointment and her vision for social transformation through access to justice which is fully consistent with what the EU is trying to achieve through PLEAD."
The EU official said that the CJ has demonstrated her commitment to the fight against corruption as her key priority in a bid to strengthen trust and confidence in the justice system in Kenya.
The official said the EU was committed to helping the justice sector enhance public trust and confidence to effectively investigate and prosecute corruption.
"We saw with the Kenya Medical Supplies Authority (Kemsa) Covid-19 scandal the need to enhance public trust and confidence in the justice system. We need to fully empower the justice system to effectively investigate and prosecute corruption," said Mr Baron.
The official said that the EU wants to have a stronger focus on the fight against corruption and will work with different bodies involved in the fight against corruption like National Police Service, Attorney-General's office, Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) when integrating PLEAD action plans.
The programme will also focus on vulnerable and marginalised groups like women affected by Gender-Based Violence (GBV), children and the disabled as well as the digitalisation of the justice sector to speed up the wheels of justice in Kenya without widening the digital gap.
"Digitalisation is the silver lining of the pandemic but it is not a silver bullet. We should have in mind the digital gap and must ensure we don't increase the digital gap as we digitalise the justice sector," said Mr Baron.
The PLEAD programme is being implemented in 12 counties which include Nairobi, Mombasa, Nakuru, Kisumu, Uasin Gishu, Mandera, Wajir, Garissa, Tana River, Lamu, Isiolo and Marsabit.
"We will increase eight additional counties in 2023 PLEAD programme to enhance access to legal aid and justice especially for the poor, marginalised and vulnerable," said Mr Baron.
He said the EU through PLEAD will also continue supporting efforts of the civil societies and improve the relations with duty bearers and other development partners.
"We also want to improve the coordination with our implementing partners like UNDP and UNDOC and work with other developing partners like, World Bank, ILO and other key actors who support the justice system in Kenya," added Mr Baron.
He continued: "What we have ahead of us is quite ambitious because we have the objective to finalise all of this and sign the contract by the end of 2022."
The programme will also support the Judicial Training Institute and National Council for Administration of Justice to improve coordination and the overall administration of public justice in Kenya.
In addition, the programme will accelerate the National Legal Aid services that aim to enhance access to legal aid and justice especially for the poor, marginalised and vulnerable.
