Victoria Time, Ph.D., a University Professor and professor of sociology and criminal justice, spent the 2022 23 academic year in Kenya on a Fulbright fellowship to study mediation. Time says the approach could benefit other countries.

The core idea of mediation in Kenya is to create harmony in society. The 2010 constitution stipulates that Kenyans should consider alternative forms of justice to handle disputes. Kenya鈥檚 President William Ruto even sent a tweet last year in support of pursuing mediation before going to the courts.

A mediator could be a family member, a chief, an elder or a pastor. The mediator encourages all the parties to engage in dialogue and then leaves it to them to decide the resolution. I interviewed 52 chiefs, elders and religious leaders and sat in on 31 hearings.

I saw a 12-year-old take her father to mediation because of child neglect. Whenever he got paid, he disappeared for weeks. The girl was an A student, with aspirations to become a doctor, but she had not attended classes for a month because he hadn鈥檛 paid the school.

The man said he didn鈥檛 have any money. The mediator said, 鈥淚 am going to call the headmaster and ask him for a meeting tomorrow. You have to arrange a payment plan to enable your girl to go to school.鈥 After they scheduled the meeting, she returned to class that day.

Even after a defendant is found guilty of murder and sentenced in court, the case can be sent to a mediator to establish reconciliation in that community. The parties sit down 鈥 the parents of the deceased and the perpetrator. If you kill a man, you give the victim鈥檚 family a certain number of cows. They shake hands and let bygones be bygones. It鈥檚 amazing how it works.

I also interviewed 10 judges, law professors, defense attorneys and prosecutors. They want people to mediate. I asked them, 鈥淎ren鈥檛 you worried about losing your jobs?鈥 They said, 鈥淣o, because there are certain cases that must be litigated in court.鈥

I plan to write at least three articles and one book. I believe many cases here could be handled through mediation as opposed to overwhelming the court system. We can gradually inculcate people that it is not only through the courts that you can experience justice.