The Judiciary is extending Mavoko Law Court to create more space and better infrastructure to ensure efficiency and convenience in its operations.
Speaking to this Reporter on Sunday, the Court's Principal Magistrate Teresa Odera said the Sh2.5 million project will enable the Court exercise its mandates more efficiently and expeditiously.
Magistrate Odera said the Court had work pressure and needed adequate space for its operations arguing that its apparently squeezed hence compromising its efficiency in operations.
She said that the 22 staff in the facility were forced to squeeze in the little space available at the Court with all clerks having nowhere to operate from whenever Courts were not in sessions.
Magistrate Odera said that the Court currently has only one permanent structure housing the main Court, two Chambers for two Magistrates leaving two other Magistrates without a place.
She said the project that commenced in February this year is half way and is expected to be complete by the end of this month and is to be in operation in first week of May this year.
"The project is intended to create more space and better infrastructure to the Court which is growing very first since its establishment in the year 2012," said Magistrate Odera.
She said that due to land problem in the region, the Court had been allocated space by Mavoko sub-county Commissioner Makori Kodeck next to his Athi River offices approximately 500 metres away from the Court, where the extension is underway.
Magistrate Odera noted that the project involves provision and modification of more containers to be used as Court Rooms, exhibit store and registry, construction of public waiting area and refurbishing the Court's ground with gravel to control unnecessary mad and soil erosion.
The Court was established by defunct Mavoko Municipality initially as a Municipal Court to make justice more accessible to the residents and it has since grown to a Law Court and currently serving the entire Mavoko sub-county.
She said though the space given by the Deputy County Commissioner was not enough, they will do what is possible on it as they engage Machakos County government to provide them at least two acres parcel of land for construction of a full Court.
Magistrate Odera added that she will send a request to the Judiciary to provide the Court with an additional one Magistrate once the expansion is complete to reduce work load and handle the overwhelming number of cases in good time and expeditiously.