Administration of justice in Kangundo law courts in Machakos county has been greatly affected for several months due to the shortage of magistrates.
The facility which is only having three courtrooms is currently being served by one resident magistrate, after the other two, a senior principal magistrate and a senior resident magistrate were transferred last year and have not been replaced.
Some lawyers who feel inconvenienced by the current status said that the shortage of magistrates has put them into collision with some of their clients who think the cases are being dragged unnecessarily.
"As lawyers, we think it is inappropriate to have one magistrate who has limited jurisdiction hence there are cases we can't file," one Kangundo based lawyer said.
He added that the shortage has caused a backlog of cases, others requiring a higher jurisdiction being rescheduled.
Alarmed by the delay of justice, relatives to some of the suspects who are on remand have urged the Judicial service commission to intervene on the matter as soon as possible.
Clients whose cases cannot be handled in Kangundo laws court have been complaining about the high cost of travelling to Machakos law courts where many cases are being referred to.