‘Let’s not digitise exclusion, let’s digitise inclusion,’ says Kenyan Supreme Court judge

Kenya is widening efforts to ensure people with disabilities are not left behind by its increasingly digital justice system, with leading judges yesterday repeating calls for accessibility to be embedded across institutions and new technologies.

“With the increased use of technology and especially AI, all tools must be inclusive,” said Supreme Court judge Justice Isaac Lenaola at a justice sector meeting in on 10 September. “Let’s make a commitment that we will not digitise exclusion; we will digitise inclusion.”

The engagement in Nairobi focused on Kenya’s Digital, ICT and AI Accessibility Roadmap for government services, including appointing accessibility champions within individual institutions rather than leaving responsibility solely to organisations such as the National Council for Persons with Disabilities.

Speaking to media following the meeting, Lenaola said the Judiciary’s inclusivity programme began two years ago, when engagement with the UK’s Digital Accessibility Program prompted the Judiciary to examine gaps in its own digital transformation.

“While we were creating systems, while creating technologies and adopting technologies that we thought would transform our judiciary and how we work, we were not considerate of those who are not in the mainstream, people with visual impairment, people who are hard of hearing,” he said.

The work has since extended beyond policy discussions towards improving accessibility across the Judiciary’s websites, filing systems and virtual courts. The initiative is now widening across the justice chain, involving the Attorney-General’s office, Kenya Law (the National Council for Law Reporting), prisons, probation and the Children’s Department.

The aim, Lenaola said, is to create a connected system where people with disabilities do not lose access to assistance or services as they move between justice agencies.

The stakes are rising as Kenya digitises more pathways to justice.

E-filing was rolled out to courts nationwide in 2024, alongside other digital tools, while the Judiciary continues to develop its digital infrastructure.

For Court of Appeal judge Justice Dr Kibaya Laibuta, the challenge becomes particularly clear in the practical realities of using digital systems. Technology can present difficulties even for people without disabilities, he told reporters, but those barriers are greater for those with disabilities.

Assistive technology alone is not enough. Software must be compatible with screen readers, audio information may require captioning, and the underlying platforms and information themselves must be accessible.

“Digital justice must be designed with accessibility from the beginning, not added as an afterthought,” Laibuta said at the meeting.

Speaking from his own experience of relying heavily on technology to work remotely, Laibuta said newer innovations bring further challenges, making it important both to address existing accessibility gaps and ensure new ones are not created.

He also called for people with disabilities to be directly involved in designing digital systems and for accessibility to become a mandatory consideration in procurement, ICT development and digital innovation.

That emphasis on designing inclusion into systems was echoed by Court of Appeal judge Daniel Musinga, who urged institutions to pursue “compliance by design”, inclusive AI and ICT systems, and greater collaboration across the justice sector.

Despite two years of work, Lenaola said the programme remains at its “formative stages”. For Laibuta, its underlying ambition ultimately comes back to what technological transformation means for access to justice.

“How do we integrate all that just so that access to justice is real for everyone, particularly when the pathways to justice are more digitised today than ever before?” he said.