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Relief as Kenya gets 22 extra months for national court building programme

Judges in Kenya breathed a sigh of relief after the World Bank finally agreed a no-cost, 22-month extension on its deadline for the country to build 30 new courts around the country.

The Bank’s $120m loan for the ambitious scheme to bring justice closer to local people had been conditional on getting the high courts and magistrates’ courts all built by 31 December this year, but only five are ready, news site Standard reported on the 9th November.

Set to include modern, multi-storeyed buildings for high courts in Mombasa and other cities, the scheme got off to a bad start, with allegations of corruption and protracted procurement processes delaying many of the projects.

Kenya’s Treasury Principal Secretary Kamau Thugge wrote to the World Bank on 14 September requesting the extension, Standard says, adding the Judiciary will be relieved because it is negotiating with the national government over big cuts to its budget.

Image: The Judiciary building, Kenya (Wing/Creative Commons/CC BY-SA 3.0) 

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