The Principal Judge, Hon. Justice Dr. Flavian Zeija, and the Permanent Secretary/Secretary to Judiciary, Mr. Pius Bigirimana, were on a weeklong tour of courts in the West Nile region. The two members of the Judiciary Top Management were being guided around the region by the Arua Resident Judge, Hon. Justice Isah Serunkuma and Ag. Assistant Registrar, HW Daniel Lubowa.
At their first stopover at Adjumani Magistrate's Court, the Resident Magistrate Grade One, HW Nantaawo Agnes Shelagh, informed the team that her Court serves nine sub-counties, including seven refugee settlements.
The Court has a workload of 545 pending cases out of which 341 are backlog - she attributed the backlog to the lack of court interpreters, absconding advocates and delayed committals in capital offences.
Reacted the PJ: "Do not let advocates run your court, you must run the advocates. They prioritize other cases, say in Kampala because of the big sums of money. Set your terms and dates, and if they cannot adhere to them, dismiss the cases."
Although the court was well maintained and resourced with a full-time solar power supply and ample furniture, the building looks like it is one earthquake away from collapsing given its gigantic cracks. It was observed that at construction, the court structure was not given a beam line which makes it weak.
Mr Chris Mugenyi, the Regional Civil Engineer for West Nile was instructed by the PS/SJ to assess the structural problems and make recommendations.
Moyo Chief Magistrate Court
The team traveled by a ferry to reach the hard-to reach Moyo District. At the Court, the Chief Magistrate, HW Dr. Omalla Felix and Magistrate, G1 HW Asiku Swaleh, received the team.
In reference to the court's status report, the PS/SJ identified the following challenges as urgent. These included lack of a station vehicle, lack of an interpreter, lack of accommodation for court staff, lack of functional ICT equipment; computers, printer and photocopier.
Mr Bigirimana instructed the Regional Civil Engineer to make an architectural plan for stand-alone residential houses for Magistrates and studio houses for other staff "within a week's time" for action.
The PJ pointed out that it was important for courts constructed in hard to reach areas to also factor in accommodation for the court staff.
In response to the overwhelming numbers of backlogged cases both in Adjumani and Moyo, the CM said that this can be attributed to lack of funds to handle capital offences in terms of money payable to lawyers for state briefs, and lack of court interpreter given that the districts have numerous native dialects such as Madi, Aringa, Aliba, gimara among others in addition to the various refugees' languages.
The guests planted trees at the court.
Yumbe Magistrate Court
Here, the team was received by Magistrate Grade One, HW Kiwanuka Hillary. This court is 100 miles away from Arua, and the visitors equally traveled by ferry.
It was observed that the court premises were poorly maintained, both the Magistrate and office supervisor were advised to deal with this immediately to save the Judiciary's corporate image.
Mr. Bigirimana instructed Judiciary's Engineering team to replace the non-functioning solar system at the Court.
General Observations
In all the three courts visited, their management practices of the archives, exhibit store and registers was found wanting with need for improvement.
The PJ said that the archives should be designed in a way that any person can retrieve a file in a short time without needing the help of a Records Assistant while the registers should at all times be updated since they are the first point of reference for any case file.
Additionally, in the courts visited, it was observed that the plumbing systems were down, the latrines were full, and the structures had various repair needs.
The PS/SJ appealed to the judicial officers to always assess the problems, solve minor ones locally using operational funds and then forward the rest to headquarters with financial implication attachments.
"Do not wait for things to get worse and do not wait for the PJ to come and suggest solutions to your problems for you," he stated.
The courts equally reported challenges in regards to lack of station vehicles, inadequate staffing and poor structural plans.
Posted 19th, October 2020
