The Judiciary on Thursday, November 17, directed all courts to use the free Google Meet online platform for virtual court hearings.
In a statement, the Judiciary stated the paid video-conferencing platform Microsoft Teams (MS) had developed a hitch after failing to renew its subscription.
It stated the MS Teams license renewal was expected to be activated on Thursday but developed a hitch, thus urging courts to use Google Meet.
“The MS Teams license renewal was expected to be activated by 17th November 2022, however, the process has been delayed,” read part of the statement by the Judiciary.
The Judiciary, however, apologized to the courts for the inconvenience maintaining that its directorate of ICT had already had generated Google Meet links to be sent out to respective courts.
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"In view, therefore, all courts are requested to use alternative links through the Google Meet online platform, which have been generated by the Directorate of ICT and will be sent out by the respective courts. We apologize for the inconvenience caused and thank you for your patience and understanding,” the Judiciary added.
Virtual court sessions were disrupted on Thursday by the hitch, something that attracted mixed reactions from a section of Kenyans.
"Just like powers goes off in Kenya when it rains, the courts online team platform is down since the rains started pouring," lawyer Ahmednasir Abdullahi tweeted.
Former LSK president Nelson Havi claimed that advocates waited for a long time on the online platform to be admitted to court, even as he sought a solution from the judiciary.
"The Judiciary Teams Online Court Platform has malfunctioned. Advocates have been waiting in the online lobby for 45 minutes to be admitted in Court. Can a permanent solution to the problem be found?" Havi posed.
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