US Ambassador, The Hon. Chief Justice Call for Gender Equality
Hon. Justice Dr. Bamwine, The US Ambassador, Deborah Ruth Malac, Hon. Justice Katureebe (CJ) and Hon. Lady Justice Arach at Women in Leadership Conference
Kampala. The US Ambassador to Uganda, Deborah Ruth Malac and The Hon. Chief Justice Bart Katureebe, made a common call aimed at enhancing and realizing the full potential of every girl child and women given the gender imbalance and inequalities they experience in the society.
The call was made on May 31, 2017 in Kampala while officiating at the first Women in Leadership Conference which was attended by influential women from different fields including legal, political, business and medical among others.
The Hon. Chief Justice in particular explained that the Constitution has various articles that promote the rights of women to have equal status.
"In this regard, I appeal to everyone here to make an honest contribution towards consolidating and further enhancing the efforts of women to achieve full realization of their rights and development potential," the Chief Justice appealed to the participants.
"A substantial part of the work has been done by the Constitution. The Constitutional provisions on the rights of women were informed by the historical gender inequality and imbalances that have disadvantaged the women in terms of access to various rights like the right to education, to property, to leadership and independent decision making, among others," Chief Justice added.
The Head of the Judiciary told the participants that women make substantial contribution towards the livelihood of all mankind and therefore they are central to the development. He said that it's from the aforementioned substantial contribution that results into a saying that goes 'train a woman and you have trained a nation'.
Hon. Justice Katureebe also went on to narrate to the participants of how during his days as MP, he used to invite influential women to encourage school going girls to harness their potential to make something of themselves in life.
Similarly, Ms Malac began her remarks by cracking a joke when she warned male counterparts in the conference to watch out on women whom she said are slowly but steadily rising through the leadership ranks. She said for Uganda to be able to achieve its middle income status by year 2020, the women should be part of the classroom, boardroom and court room.
"It's not a question what women and girls can do or what they cannot do but it's a challenge to ensure that all women are given the opportunity to play their roles. The same opportunities as men," Ms Malac said.
The Chief Registrar Paul Gadenya said the Judiciary is almost having 50 per cent gender balanced equality in regard to employment.
His Worship Gadenya went on to break down the gender statistics in the Judiciary by revealing that in the Supreme Court, female Hon. Justices make up 50 per cent, in the Court of Appeal, the female Hon. Justices make up one third of the total number and that in the High Court, the female Hon. Justices make 44 per cent.
Ever since Uganda attained its independence in 1962, we have never had a female president though in the current regime, Hon. Dr. Specioza Naigaga Wandira Kazibwe made history by becoming the first woman to become Vice President. Currently, we have Hon. Rebecca Kadaga holding the third highest ranking position in the country of the Speaker of Parliament.
The conference was running under the theme; "Role of Women in advancing Uganda towards a Middle Income Status by 2020".
The gathering was meant to bring together women and men across different professions or callings to discuss empowerment of women in leadership positions.
At the same event, former Hon. Deputy Chief Justice Laeticia Kikonyongo was awarded a life time achievement award for breaking barriers to become the first female High Court Judge and eventually first female Deputy Chief Justice.
The Hon. Chief Justice was also awarded for his role in advocating for gender issues. Other recognitions went to the Speaker of Parliament and Arua MP Maureen Osoru.
In his closing remarks, the Principal Judge Dr. Yorokamu Bamwine cautioned the Directorate of Public Prosecution against sanctioning charges against wives of suspects when there is no evidence connecting them to crimes allegedly committed by the husband. The Principal Judge said he received these complaints in Masaka where there is an ongoing criminal session.
Posted 2nd, June 2017
