There was confusion on Monday when two magistrates were forced to share a bench at Karatina Law Court while listening to their cases.
Senior Principal Magistrate Florence Macharia sat side by side with Resident Magistrate Sandra Kosgei as they both handled different cases simultaneously.
The situation was caused by the recent posting of Kosgei to the law courts without an established courtroom for her to work from.
She was set to handle cases of Court Three which had no physical structure allocated.
The situation resulted in confusion, as litigants who attended their hearings had to do carry on with their businesses in the presence of the two magistrates.
At one point, Macharia explained the situation to all present stating that she would handle matters for Court One and her colleague for Court Three.
When she was done with her cases, the Senior Magistrate gave way for her counterpart to continue with the remaining cases.
Karatina law court is housed in a dilapidated colonial timber premise with two courtrooms. The recent posting of Justice Kosgei has increased the number of magistrates to three and led to a lack of space.
Despite a groundbreaking ceremony done in 2018, the facility's upgrade is yet to commence - construction has been plagued by lack of funds.
In an earlier statement, Chief Justice David Maraga protested the drastic cuts in the judiciary budget, citing that they would have a devastating effect on its work.
He stated that construction at Karatina Law Courts required an additional Ksh4,336,378 for completion.
