Last updated on May 30th, 2021 at 07:47 am
The Chief Justice, Alfonse Chigamoy Owiny – Dollo and his Deputy, Richard Buteera, today took oath before President Yoweri Museveni at State House Entebbe.
The scientific swearing in ceremony with less than 30 participants, was attended by, among others, the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Jacob Oulanyah and Prime Minister, Ruhakana Rugunda.
Others were Justice Minister, Ephraim Kamuntu; Attorney General, William Byaruhanga, the Principal Judge, Dr Flavian Zeija the Secretary to the Judiciary, Pius Bigirimana, and the Chief Registrar, Sarah Langa Siu, who moderated the event.
Justice Minister, Kamuntu, congratulated the two justices upon their appointment, and thanked President Museveni for his continuous support to the Uganda Judiciary and appointing “a strong team to run the institution”.
In his brief remarks after he was sworn in, Justice Owiny – Dollo, said there was need for a lot of engagements with the members of the Executive arm of government so they can appreciate the role of the Judiciary.
“Many people are not in the know of the role of the Judiciary…we want to have a hearing very soon and we would like you to understand us,” the Chief Justice said to the president.
To paint a picture, Justice Dollo said that he is going to be presiding over an institution where one chief magistrate presides over six magisterial areas, and a High Court judge with over 4,000 cases. He said between two to three trillion shillings is locked up in the Commercial Court because the Court has only five judges.
“We, for instance, need 15 judges to sit in the Commercial Court to quickly handle these commercial disputes and have these trillions released back into the economy.
“How can justice be served? We must immediately do something to give meaning to the people of Uganda. In this age, court cases should not be staying in the system for 10 years. We want to see cases handled to completion within one year if resources are available to us,” said the Chief Justice.
In response, President Museveni said he’s still grappling with having the elites in government get priorities right. He said that these priorities include defence and security, law and order, transport and electricity, among others.
“We have a conflict with the educated people…we prioritize, but they also have their own priorities,” said the President. “If we priorities well, there’s no problem. But there are always misdirection of resources such as creating more administrative units, increasing salaries for some officers and travel.”
Become A Partner With LegalReports. Learn More Here.
The President re-echoed his earlier calls for the harmonization of his understanding of the “concept of justice” with the Courts. Explaining that he still subscribed to “an eye for an eye and tooth for tooth”, the President said that he still believes in the death sentence and that he does not support the immediate release of some suspects on police bond and court bail.
“Some of these concepts that are not in harmony with what we stood for are messing us up. When a criminal is immediately released back into the community, that dents the credibility of the system,” said the President.
Senior Judiciary administrators on the Judiciary team were Under Secretary, Maureen Kasande; Ag. Commissioner HRM, Apophia N. Tumwine; Public Relations Officer, Jamson Karemani; Principal Communications Officer, Solomon Muyita; and Principal Personal Secretary, Caroline Akello.
Benjamin Ahikiiriza is a Legal Writer And Digital Communications & Marketing Specialist majoring in Lawyers, Law Firms And the larger Legal Sector.
Benjamin currently Works as the Director of Content and Business Development At LegalReports.