NAIROBI, Kenya — The Judiciary has set an ambitious target of ensuring appeals filed before the Court of Appeal are heard and determined within one year, as newly installed Court of Appeal President Justice Gatembu Kairu assumed office with a pledge to reduce a backlog of more than 16,000 pending cases.
Speaking during Justice Kairu’s installation on Thursday, Chief Justice Martha Koome challenged the country’s second-highest court to capitalize on its expanded judicial capacity by accelerating the delivery of justice and reducing case delays.
“The appointment of fifteen additional Judges has addressed the Court’s long-standing human resource challenge. The Court must now translate this investment into faster appeals, reduced backlog and improved service delivery,” Koome said.
Court of Appeal Bench Expands
The Chief Justice noted that the Court of Appeal now has 41 judges, up from 13 judges in 2021, making it the largest bench in the court’s history.
She said the increase in judicial officers had already improved the court’s performance, with annual case resolutions rising from 1,220 in 2021 to 4,038, even as the number of appeals filed each year nearly doubled from 2,834 to 5,431.
Despite the progress, the court ended the last financial year with 16,436 pending appeals, including 9,954 backlog cases.
Koome said the Judiciary’s Social Transformation through Access to Justice (STAJ) Blueprint envisions appeals being heard and concluded within one year of filing.
“Let your legacy be the transformation of the Court into a truly real-time appellate court, one capable of hearing and determining appeals within the year they are filed,” she told Justice Kairu.
Kairu Pledges to Reduce Backlog
In his inaugural address, Justice Kairu acknowledged the scale of the challenge facing the appellate court, noting that litigants continue to experience significant delays.
He revealed that, as of July 14, 2026, there were 11,621 pending civil appeals across the country, with 4,787 of those cases pending before the Nairobi Court of Appeal.
According to Kairu, the Nairobi station is currently hearing civil appeals filed in 2020, meaning some litigants have waited nearly five years for their cases to be determined.
“We have the responsibility, not only of reducing the backlog, but also the responsibility of optimising judicial resources and ensuring that justice is not only fair but expeditious,” he said.
Focus on Efficiency and Judicial Reforms
Justice Kairu said the court would prioritize clearing hundreds of pending interlocutory applications, particularly applications for stay orders under Rule 5(2)(b), which he said have diverted the court from its primary constitutional responsibility of determining substantive appeals.
He also pledged to strengthen judicial research, promote consistency in appellate decisions, leverage technology to improve efficiency, safeguard judicial independence and deepen collaboration with the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) and other justice sector stakeholders.
The reforms, he said, are intended to improve service delivery across all Court of Appeal stations while ensuring appeals are resolved more efficiently.