It was a scene of irony that bordered on farce. In a Nairobi courtroom, the custodians of Kenyan law struggled to speak the language of the Kenyan people. Justice Bahati Mwamuye has now drawn a line in the sand, ordering the Judiciary to provide a certified Kiswahili translator for a landmark petition that exposes the colonial hangover in our courts.

The petitioner, Enock Aura, did the unthinkable: he filed his case entirely in Kiswahili. He invoked Article 7 of the Constitution, which crowns Kiswahili as the national and official language. The response from the legal fraternity? Confusion. Lawyers stammered, State Counsels requested English, and the system ground to a halt. Five months after the initial filing, the court still lacked a translator.

The Colonial Hangover

Justice Mwamuye’s directive is a scathing indictment of a system that is elitist by design. "Proficiency in Kiswahili is a requirement for Law School," the judge reminded the fumbling advocates, blasting their inability to navigate the proceedings. The fact that the Judiciary—an arm of the government—cited "limited resources" as an excuse for not having a translator is a testament to how deeply English is entrenched as the language of power.

Aura’s lawyer, Harrison Kinyanjui, argued that the exclusive use of English disenfranchises millions of Kenyans. If justice must be seen to be done, it must also be heard and understood. A court that cannot speak to its citizens is a court that rules over them, not for them.

• The Ruling: The Judiciary must provide a certified translator immediately to allow the case to proceed in Kiswahili.
• The Constitutional Test: The petition challenges the supremacy of English in legal records, potentially forcing a rewrite of the Supreme Court Rules of 2020.
• The Cultural Shift: This case is a litmus test for the "decolonization" of Kenyan institutions.

A Language of Justice

As the case proceeds, it will force a conversation that is 60 years overdue. Why must a Kenyan grandmother need a translator to understand the judgment that decides her fate? Enock Aura has thrown a stone into the quiet waters of the legal elite.

The High Court has ordered a translator, but the real verdict will be whether the Judiciary can finally find its Kenyan voice.