A 56-year-old man from Migori has started a 67-kilometre journey to advocate against injustices in the corridors of justice.
George Chacha, a human rights advocate and civic educator from the Kuria region in Migori, said he has decided to take the bold step of walking from Migori town to Kisii Law Court to present his petition.
In his petition, Chacha says that issues of delayed justice, favouritism and wrongful judgments have left many Kenyans unable to find justice, the last hope that the majority of citizens see as their final recourse in legal matters.
Chacha, who is also a retired Air Force officer, said that justice in Kenya appears to favour the highest bidder rather than uphold the scale of justice.
He noted that as many victims whisper in low tones for fear of victimisation, intimidation and even threats to their lives, it is important for someone to step up and expose these evils in society.
“I have decided to take this initiative to address the evils in the corridors of justice to save the next generation that might suffer the consequence of our fear and silence,” Chacha said.
He noted that while there are good judges and magistrates who live up to their professional calling, some questionable judges and magistrates have converted courts into stock exchange markets, where the highest bidder has his way while the poor and vulnerable are left broken and destroyed by the very institutions meant to protect them and offer hope.
Chacha explained that his journey is not a cry for revenge but a call to expose the wolves in sheep’s clothing and hopefully restore dignity to the Kenyan people through their court system.
According to him, the initiative is meant to activate Articles 48, 159, 73, 27 and 28 and restore dignity to those who have been shamed and humiliated by the justice system.
“It is not about me; it is about future generations; it is about your children and what we bequeath them as we come close to our end,” he said.
He added that some judgments in Kenyan courts raise more questions than answers, and it is only through proper advocacy that such cases can be addressed to give hope to hopeless citizens.
Some surveys show that a majority of Kenyans express distrust in the courts and perceive them as corrupt or influenced by elites. The Trends and Insights for Africa (2023), for example, showed that 43.4 per cent of Kenyans rated the courts positively, while the independent research network Afrobarometer (2021) showed that 16.9 per cent of Kenyans had no trust in key institutions.
