President William Ruto has said an independent and professional Judiciary has been critical in enabling his administration to implement some of its key policy decisions despite legal challenges.
Speaking during the Africa Chief Justices’ Alternative Dispute Resolution Summit 2026 in Nairobi, President Ruto said the government would not have progressed with some of its policy decisions without a Judiciary capable of independently handling disputes.
“I have undertaken some of the most difficult policy positions in Kenya. If I did not have an independent Judiciary, I would not succeed,” Ruto said.
The President cited the Affordable Housing Programme as an example, saying Kenya had for decades struggled to address the housing shortage before his administration introduced a new delivery framework.
“We had been trying to settle the housing question for close to 30 years, but this time I said I would do it. We went to Parliament, changed the law, brought into the equation a housing fund and a whole infrastructure to deliver on it,” he said.
Ruto noted that the programme has faced opposition, including through court petitions seeking to halt its implementation.
“Even now we have people in court who want to stop it. If we didn’t have a professional Judiciary, we wouldn’t have moved an inch,” he said.
The head of state also used the summit to call for a shift in how African countries approach justice, urging the continent to strengthen alternative dispute resolution (ADR) systems as a faster way of resolving conflicts, restoring relationships and supporting economic growth.
Ruto said justice should not be judged by the complexity of legal procedures but by whether citizens feel heard, treated fairly and restored with dignity.
“Citizens do not measure justice by the complexity of our procedures. They measure it by three simple questions: Were they heard? Was the matter resolved fairly? And did the outcome restore their dignity?” he said.
The President said effective dispute resolution goes beyond social harmony, arguing that timely settlement of disputes is critical to unlocking Africa’s economic potential, especially as countries deepen trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
He challenged African countries to stop relying on foreign jurisdictions to settle commercial disputes, saying the continent must build strong institutions capable of handling its own cases.
“Let us resolve African disputes on African soil, by African jurists under African institutions. That is not protectionism. That is sovereignty,” said Ruto.
