Kenya:Judiciary, AGA reach an agreement to upscale fight against graft

By Samuel Ouma The Attorney General Alliance (AGA) Africa and Kenya’s Judiciary have signed an expanded Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to form a new capacity-building collaboration. Kenya's Chief Justice Martha Koome observed the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Director of Judiciary Training Institute (JTI), Supreme Court Judge Smokin Wanjala, and AGA-Africa Board member Markus Green in Mombasa on Tuesday. The new agreement will encourage the interchange of information and expertise and the creation and strengthening of human and institutional capacity. “We do know that as a result of our geographical location as well as other economic factors, Kenya is a hub for international crimes including terrorism, trafficking, money laundering and cybercrime. This fact creates an essential requirement to intensify and continue the judges’ and magistrates’ sensitisation on this very important topic,” Justice Wanjala said. He went on to say that JTI, in partnership with AGA Africa, trained over 100 judges from various courts in cybercrime and electronic evidence, as well as over 130 magistrates in human trafficking, over three years. Development of a physical and electronic JTI library, production of yearly or biannual periodicals addressing various elements of jurisprudence advancement, intellectual exchanges, and pioneering thought leadership are among the areas of cooperation covered by the expanded MoU. It also includes training for Supreme Court and Court of Appeal judges in transnational organized crime and other identified areas, such as election dispute settlement. The training sessions will be expanded to the judges' law clerks and legal researchers. On his part, Mr. Green said AGA-Africa seeks to establish and foster robust relationships with justice and law enforcement agencies throughout Africa, to support the rule of law and combat transnational criminal activities. "Our work has allowed us to collaborate with law enforcement agencies on the continent sharing best practices on a variety of transnational crime areas including, forensics, cybercrime, counterfeit drugs, human trafficking, wildlife trafficking, money laundering, and asset forfeiture, virtual currency and countering corruption," Mr. Green stated. AGA-Africa is in Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Rwanda, Seychelles, South Africa, Uganda, and Zambia. JTI's mission is to manage ongoing judicial education for judges, judicial officers, and judicial employees and undertake research and produce policy related to the administration of justice. The training institute is also charged with fostering constructive communication and input with stakeholders and other government arms on behalf of the Judiciary.