His Worship, Kaweesa addressing Judicial Officers at the Annual General Meeting at the High Court
Kampala. Judicial Officers under their umbrella body, Uganda Judicial Officers Association (UJOA),resolved to defer industrial action to February 12, 2018. The decision was taken to give Government an opportunity to make a concrete pay raise offer.
The resolution was one of the outcomes of theUJOA Annual General Meeting at the High Court in Kampala where 65 members votedto stay the strike.
The Principal Judge, Hon. Justice Dr. Yorokamu Bamwine who represented the Chief Justice and patron of the association, urged the officers to consider deferring the industrial action citing government's progress to address judicial officers' demands.
He said, "Government has asked for a chance to put things right. Colleagues, I think we need to give them the chance to deliver." We now know that government takes the issues of judicial officers' welfare seriously. The situation is not as it was before the industrial action."
Majority of the judicial officers agreed withthis assertion based on reports that the Cabinet has been engaged in meetingsto review the salary structure of all civil servants.
HW Godfrey Kaweesa, the UJOA president asked government to prioritize the needs of the Judiciary. He said, "We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds for the Judiciary."
Supreme Court Registrar, HW Tom Chemutai, who spoke on behalf of the Chief Registrar, said the Administration of Judiciary Bill was delayed because of the issue of the judges' retirement benefits which he added would soon be resolved.
In a related development, the elections of anew UJOA executive did not take place because of glitches in procedure. "The normal procedure is that minutes of the previous AGM (Annual General Meeting)are adopted and treasurer report is circulated to members prior to the elections. This wasn't done, I therefore submit as the Presiding Officer that I am not ready to conduct an election," Hon. Lady Justice Stella Arach Amoko said.
The elections were postponed to February 12,2018 so that the treasurer's report and previous meeting minutes can be circulated.
Posted 12th, December 2017
