Judiciary’s Response to Accusations Attributed to Minister of State for Ethics and Integrity.
The Chief Registrar, His Worship Paul Gadenya
KAMPALA: The Judiciary is dismayed by the reckless and\r\nunethical outburst by the Minister of State for Ethics and Integrity, Fr. Simon\r\nLokodo, that appeared in the Wednesday (March 30, 2016) New Vision, Page 30.
The Minister was, among others, quoted castigating the\r\nJudiciary as corrupt and called for its overhaul. He claimed that "a poor\r\nperson does not get Justice” from the courts, and that "Judicial Officers\r\n(should) get back to their senses and do the job they are expected to do with\r\ndiligence, dedication and without bias or partiality and misguided discretion”.\r\nHe further claimed that the courts have "disappointed (him) on three\r\noccasions”.
We respond as follows:
Appointments of Judges and other Judicial Officers\r\ntakes an elaborate and stringent system which only picks out the best, who are\r\nvetted by different government agencies, including parliament, before they are\r\nappointed by the president. For the Minister to say the Judges are senseless is\r\nto abuse the integrity of the appointing authority, who is the fountain of\r\nhonour of this country.
The Honorable Minister should concentrate his efforts\r\ntowards strengthening the five pillars of fighting corruption of: detection,\r\ninvestigation, prosecution, adjudication and punishment, rather than destroying\r\nthem.
The Minister should provide further and better\r\nparticulars of his accusations so that they are properly investigated rather\r\nthan engaging in the making blanket accusation against an institution. The\r\nconstitution and other laws of the land clearly stipulate the various complaint\r\nand appeal avenues for anyone dissatisfied with court services.
In the absence of formal complaints through\r\nappropriate channels, the Judiciary demands a public apology from the Minister\r\nfor the embarrassment his claims have occasioned to the Honorable Judges, Justices\r\nand other Judicial Officers.
Judicial Officers operate under very harsh environment\r\nto make ends of Justice meet. Our officers religiously uphold their judicial\r\noath and have shunned corruption.
The Judiciary has one of the most robust\r\nanti-corruption strategy in this country and has a zero tolerance policy\r\ntowards corruption and the corrupt. We know that corruption can be in the\r\nsystem, and it is the reason we have put in place the Judiciary Anti-Corruption\r\nStrategy, drawn from the national and the JLOS Anti-Corruption Strategy.
The Judiciary also has a robust Inspectorate function\r\nheaded by a Justice of the Supreme Court. The inspectorate of courts receives\r\nand processes internal and external complaints against any staff of the\r\nJudiciary and investigates cases of maladministration of Justice.
The Hon. Chief Justice has also opened up the\r\ninstitution to help people like Fr. Lokodo to bring forward all sorts of\r\ncomplaints that are investigates and dealt with decisively. Results from our\r\ninternal Disciplinary Committee and that of the JSC are regularly shared with\r\nthe public.
The Judiciary has spearheaded anti-corruption efforts\r\nthrough its Anti-Corruption Division (ACD) of the High Court. Since its\r\nestablishment in 2008, conviction rate of corruption and related offenders in\r\nthe ACD have improved to 70 per cent from less than 10 per cent. President\r\nYoweri Museveni recently lauded ACD as one of Uganda’s success stories during\r\nhis appearance at the African Peer Review Mechanism in South Africa.
The constitution established the Judicial Service\r\nCommission, among other things to, discipline Judicial Officers. Those who have\r\nbeen found culpable have been accordingly punished.
Suffice to add that there is always this stereotypical\r\nthinking that whoever wins a court case paid for the court decision. People\r\nshould get used to the fact that there is always a winner and loser in a court\r\ncase. But our elaborate appeal process still allows the loser of a matter to\r\ncorrect a lower court’s judgement
The majority of the court users are the vulnerable and\r\nthey constitute about 90 per cent of the court users and we dispense a lot of Justice\r\nto them. It is therefore wrong for anyone to claim that the poor do not get Justice.
Our appeal to the government is to quickly put in\r\nplace a comprehensive legal aid scheme to help people who cannot afford the\r\nservices of lawyers. Ordinary people without lawyers cannot prepare well for\r\nsome court processes like handling of expert witnesses. (We urge the government\r\nto enact a Legal Aid Act to provide a holistic legal aid regime for the vulnerable).
We equally call upon the Directorate of Ethics in the\r\nPresident’s Office to join hands with the Judiciary to fight corruption which\r\nhas affected most segments of society.
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By and large, the Judiciary is widely respected as a\r\ncompetent, independent and accountable institution that administers Justice to\r\nall using little resources. We are determined more than ever before, to fight\r\ncorruption and malpractices in the courts.
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Full Statement
Posted 30th, March 2016
