Name and Shame Corrupt Officials, Hon. Justice Katureebe Tells JLOS Stakeholders
JLOS Senior Technical Advisor Racheal Odoi- Musoke handing the JLOS review report to the Hon. Chief Justice
On November 30, 2017, representatives of Justice, Law and Order Sector institutions gathered at the Commonwealth Resort in Munyonyo for the 22nd Annual JLOS Review. The meeting which was attended by development partners attracted representatives from Central Government, the academia and civil society.
The Chief Justice and Chairperson of the JLOS Leadership Committee, Hon. Justice Bart Katureebe, urged JLOS stakeholders to name and shame corrupt officials, if corruption is to be eradicated in the sector.
"One way of fighting corruption is to identify the corrupt, name them, shame them and get rid of them," he said.
The review was held under the theme "a pro-people Justice System: profiling vulnerability; delivering on the promise".
"I must note that incidences of perceived and actual corruption are still prevalent in some of the JLOS service stations, and this not only erodes the Sector's image, but also increases the vulnerability of both the supply and demand sides of justice," the Chief Justice said.
He noted that corruption is among those challenges the sector is grappling with that can be tackled without necessarily spending money.
"While many of the Sector problems and challenges require enhanced human and financial resources, some interventions such as the fight against corruption and impunity are in some cases budget neutral," he said.
"I call upon the heads of JLOS institutions,departments and agencies to take this matter more seriously and implement the JLOS Anti-Corruption Strategy; name, shame and punish the few that bring our work in disrepute, and enhance integrity within our rank and file," he added.
He also weighed in on the current State Prosecutors strike, saying that though their action are well intended, it has also slowed down the realization of the sector's targets, impinged some human rights and is causing suffering to those who seek their services.
He urged them to exercise patience with government,be pragmatic and to trust in the on-going salary review processes.
"I am hopeful that the on-going holistic salary review and harmonization processes initiated by the Government will go a long way in providing lasting solutions as opposed to piece meal treatment of some institutions. We are better off improving the working conditions of the public service as a whole than addressing one institution at a time," he said.
During the meeting, a report on the sector’s annual performance was also launched, revealing a tremendous improvement in the sector.
It revealed that the world ranking of the country's Judicial Independence improved from 3.41 in 2015/16 to 3.6 in 2016/17 as a result of improved innovations and reduced interference in the judicial processes.
Service delivery has also improved with more people being served within a short period of time. This has been witnessed in the delivery processes in both civil and criminal justice systems. This has in turn had a ripple effect of increasing the Sector’s public confidence from a baseline average of 26% in 2012 to 48% in 2016.
It shows that case backlog has reduced from 35% in2010/2011 to 24% in 2017, despite an increase in the overall cases filed acrossthe justice system.
The Sector has also enhanced its service delivery coverage and reduced the distance people travel to access JLOS services from an average radius of 75km in 2012, to 15km in 2017.
Mr. Henk Jan Bakker, the Netherlands ambassador and also the chairperson of the JLOS development partners lauded the sector for the remarkable improvements.
"I can confirm that the Annual Report certainly meets our expectations as Development Partners and I want to convey our appreciation for this excellent work done," he said.
However, he noted that the demand for JLOS services is growing fast. Therefore, the sector needs more resources to meet the demands for more and better services.
Posted 3rd, December 2017
