Judiciary Holds Meet For Stakeholders Under Administration Of Justice Programme
Mr. Bigirimana(Permanent Secretary/ Secretary to the Judiciary - 2nd Left) with HW Sarah Langa (Chief Registrar - extreme right)stakeholders under Administration of Justice Programme meeting at the High Court in Kampala
On Friday, October 1, 2021, senior officials of15 institutions under the Administration of Justice Programme met at the Judiciary headquarters for a validation exercise of the Programme as well as its corresponding Implementation Action Plan (PIAP) under the third National Development Plan.
The validation exercise was attended to by the Program's Working Group comprising of Accounting Officers from the Uganda Police Force, Uganda Prisons Services, Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, Uganda Human Rights Commission, Law Development Centre, Tax Appeals Tribunal, and Ministries of; Internal Affairs, Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Gender, Labour and Social Development as well as Local Government.
Mr Operemo Vincent, the Manager Planning at the National Planning Authority (NPA) emphasized that ultimate goal of the Programme is to promote the rule of law through effective regulation of economic activities which helps in the structural transformation of the economy.
The Judiciary Permanent Secretary/Secretary to the Judiciary, Mr Pius Bigirimana, called for proper planning of activities and management of funds. "Activities needed for proper functionality should be teased out, costed and have the money where it is supposed to be," he said.
Adding, "I do not want the old system where money is lumped together and one person decides for the others, and we need to workout ways to avoid duplication of funds."
He also clarified that the funds being expected for the programme are different from vote 101 which is purely for the Judiciary.
The Chief Registrar, HW Sarah Langa Siu, explained the working relationship between the Judiciary and the Judicial Service Commission while emphasizing the need for the two institutions to work together especially on budgetary matters.
Dr. Asumani Guloba, the Director Development Planning, NPA promised that a second co-circular will be issued with a common position on the issues raised on the administration of justice and access to justice.
The meeting tasked the Technical Team to produce the final Programme documents which will be forwarded to the Cabinet and the Ministry of Finance by October 7. The Programme documents are expected to inform the budgets for the Financial Year 2022/23 and the following years under the third National Development Plan of 2020/21 - 2024/25.
Originally the NDP III had 18 development programmes, they however become 20 with the introduction of the Legislature Programme and the Administration of Justice Programme.
From Judiciary, Registrars; HW Kwizera Amos(Planning and Development), HW Rosemary Bareebe (Magistrates Affairs), Deputy Registrar, HW Edoku John Paul, the Principal Economist, Mr Opolot Simon Peter and other senior administrators were in attendance.
The meeting came on the heels of a seven days' workshop that was held in September that drafted the Programme documents. This was done by the Judiciary administrators with support from NPA.
Posted 1st, October 2021
