Group Photo: Hon. Justice Dr. Zeija with other Judicial at Mukono Chief Magistrate Court
Unless you experience it, it is tough to believe the conditions of some of the courts under the Mukono High Court circuit. These are tales of a court operated by one person, and another without premises.
The discoveries were made by the Principal Judge, Hon. Justice Dr Flavian Zeija, during an inspection of the Courts under the Mukono High Court circuit. He was flanked by the area Senior Resident Judge, David Batema, Chief Registrar, HW Sarah Langa Siu, and Chief Magistrate HW Hatanga Juliet Harty.
At Nakisunga Magistrates Court, he learned that the Court has a caseload of 98 cases, and it is operated by two visiting Magistrates, HW Muinda Tadeo (Grade One) and HW Lydia Wabuze (Grade Two), assisted by a process server.
At Ngogwe Court, the in-charge, HW Wabuze, reported that her Court was recently evicted when Buganda Kingdom decided to reposes the building that worked as courthouse and Magistrate's chamber. The Court now improvises by utilizing the area Council Hall as and when the Council has no business. The Chief Magistrate recommended a temporary closure of the Court.
The Principal Judge (PJ) heard that Nyenga Magistrates Court in Buikwe district was equally has one support staff and the Court too has been served with an eviction notice. Said HW Onyango Rose Jolly (Grade One), "I am the Magistrate, Court Clerk, secretary, and sometimes when I fail to get a cleaner, I clean myself," she said,
The visiting team heard that the Njeru Magistrates Court had one judicial officer (HW Egessa Wilberforce Masaaka) and four other staff, with a workload of 567 cases, out of which 126 are backlog. Here, the PJ stressed the need to prioritizing family and divorce cases.
At Kangulumira, Magistrate GI, HW Nambozo Sanula presented the Court's report on behalf of the Resident Magistrate GII HW Steven Johnson Waidhuuba, who was on compassionate leave. The court under the Kayunga Chief Magisterial area has eight pending cases only.
The day was crowned with inspections of the Kayunga Chief Magistrate's Court. According to the Ag Chief Magistrate HW Tusiime Sarah Bashaija, there are 24 backlogged cases with a total of 259 cases pending before her, while 272 pending cases out of which 18 are backlogged before HW Nambozo.
PJ spoke to the Kayunga JLOS stakeholders who were waiting for him at the court. "This (partnership) is like a relationship. Whenever you have meetings send the minutes back to Kampala so that we can know the challenges affecting the relationship." He added that for the partnership to yield good fruits, they need to support each other.
On the other hand, the CR urged HW Nambozo to liaise with the State Attorney to make arrangements to start circuiting at Kangulumira, where the court currently has no resident magistrate.
Challenges, Observations
Court Premises; save for Kayunga, which has its own premises and Njeru court hosted in rented premises, the rest of the courts are forced to vacate.
Hon. Justice Batema observed the need to streamline the relationship between the Judiciary and Buganda Kingdom. He also called for the building of courts to avoid being inconvenienced by property owners.
Staffing Gaps; It was noted that all the judicial officers are circuiting in at least two courts. HW Tadeo sits at Mukono CM and circuits at Ntenjeru. HW Wabuze attends three courts; Ntenjeru, Ngogwe and Koome, which you can only access using a canoe boat, while HW Onyango handles Nyenga court and care-takes Buvuma Island. HW Egessa handles Njeru courts care takes Buikwe court as well.
The PJ reassured the Judicial Officers that they would review the staffing at all stations by the end of this Financial Year to harmonize the staffing gaps and irregularities based on need analysis.
Prisons, like in many other parts of the country, limited access to prisons and delayed production of remandees has crippled criminal justice in the circuit. To this, the PJ disclosed that guidelines are in the offing to cure this impasse.
Lack of Reference books; to this, PJ informed the staff at Ntenjeru that the Law Reform Commission has already updated all the law books of Uganda up to 2020. Adding that plans were underway to procure these.
On the need for training, the CR called for peer training which she said was budget neutral.
Regarding other needs like transport facilities, construction of courts, internet connectivity, equipment, furniture and power supply, the PJ reiterated that these would be addressed gradually.
The CR condemned tendencies of absenteeism, laziness, and mediocrity and urged staff to prove their worth of crossing to the new Judiciary.
She also urged courts to have "talking compounds" such that when a litigant comes to court, there is ample information about the court and its processes.
Posted 8th, June 2021
