Remarks by the Chair of the Technical Committee

Hon. Justice Anthony Ndung’u

Judge of the High Court of Kenya

 

The Hon. Chief Justice and President of the Supreme Court;

Honorable Council members;

The Honorable Judges of the Court of Appeal and High Court present;

Honored guests;

Development partners;

Kenya Law Staff;

Ladies and Gentlemen,

We are here today to witness the culmination of a journey that began in 2017 as we counted down to the terminal review of Kenya Law’s Strategic Plan 2013-2017.

The Kenya Law Council’s Charter, has constituted various committees to effectively  deliver its mandate. One of these Committee, is the Technical Committee which I chair. The Committee has an elaborate mandate that covers the review and approval of all technical matters; provision of independent policy advise, assistance, and recommendations to the Council aimed at improving the well-functioning and orderly law reporting development in Kenya; formulating policies and strategies of the technical aspects of the organization; and reviewing and making recommendations to the Council on the Organization’s strategy.

It is in line with these mandates that the Technical Committee was tasked to lead the Strategic Plan development process.

 

 

Ladies and Gentlemen,

 The road map to the delivery of this Strategy was not an easy task. The Committee undertook various fora where they retreated, reflected, reviewed and developed a draft Strategy for presentation to the Council.

With the Council’s validation and guidance, and while in cognizance of our role in espousing the ethos of our country’s Constitution 2010, and specifically Articles (10, 35,  118 and 232), we obliged with subjecting the Strategic development process to public participation where we engaged the public and stakeholders through various media for their views. I am happy to say that we got very good insights and comments from stakeholders which were taken on board in the Strategy. For this we are extremely humbled.

 Ladies and Gentlemen,

The development of this strategic plan has taken into account the contextual position of Kenya Law in relation to the previous strategic plan, that is the challenges experienced and the lessons learnt; the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats faced; the linkages required between Kenya Law and national and regional policy documents and statutes.

The Strategy proposes to bolster the vision and mission of the organization by adding phrases that give context to the objectives of Kenya Law.

We therefore, envision “to be the lead provider of public legal information towards an enlightened society”.

The strategic plan will be implemented through three (3) thematic areas while taking cognizance of our parent Act; the Constitution of Kenya; the Montreal Declaration on Free Access to Law; Kenya’s Vision 2030; the Big Four Agenda, the SDGs, the Sustaining Judiciary Transformation Framework (2017-2021) and the Office of the Attorney General and Department of Justice Strategic Plan.

These Strategic themes are:

1. Access to public legal information,
2. Organizational sustainability, and
3. Corporate identity and visibility

These strategic themes cover all aspects of the organizations activities and objectives that shall be pursued during the lifetime of this Strategy.

At the Council level, the implementation of the Strategy will be closely monitored through the management function to ensure we deliver our promise.  A monitoring and evaluation framework has been put in place to ensure proper tracking, correction and reporting of organizational progress.  In addition, the Strategy maps out the possible risks that may be encountered and provides for mitigation measures.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

 The task ahead is challenging but with your support, collaboration and cooperation, we will deliver. The Strategy has therefore mapped out yours and our expectations in the five (5) years. I invite you to collaborate with us.

It has been an honor Chairing this Committee and interacting with all of you in various capacities over the last couple of years. Your invaluable views and input have greatly enriched our strategy going forward. For this we remain greatly indebted.

In conclusion, I would like to sincerely thank Dr. John Mahasi the consultant who together with his team and our management team worked tirelessly to present a viable strategy document. Gratitude to my fellow Committee members for their tireless effort that enabled the finalization of this Strategy. I would also like to thank the Chair of our Council for his dedicated leadership in leading us to get here today.

And now, I invite you all to rise as we welcome the Chairman of the Kenya Law Council, the Honorable Chief Justice and President of the Supreme Court of Kenya to give us the key note address.

Thank you.

The Hon. Justice Anthony Ndung’u

Judge of the High Court of Kenya

29^th August 2019

 

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