The Hon. The Principle Judge, Hon. Justice Dr Zeija with staff at Hoima
The Principal Judge, Hon. Justice DrFlavian Zeija, resumed his tour of courts around the country by combing sixCourts under the Masindi High Court Circuit.
The Courts visited include theMagistrates Courts of Kibaale, Kakumiro, Kagadi, Kyangwali, Buseruka andHoima, all care-taken by the Kiboga Chief Magistrate, HW Obong George.
The PJ emphasized the need ofchronologically organizing of the archives according to years of registration,maintenance of the exhibit stores, updating of the registers and clearance ofbacklog.
He emphasized the need for staffattendance registration as a mechanism to curb absenteeism and late coming.
"At exactly 8.30am, after the staffhave signed, you (the Magistrate) draw a line and sign as a supervisor justright below the last name registered," the PJ advised.
Adding; "Meanwhile, it (theregister) is supposed to have two columns, both for signatures for arrival anddeparture." The reason for this he said is to restrain staff from registeringtheir names later on the days they were absent or arrived very late.
PJ also warned staff that he willsoon commence impromptu inspections to assess whether or not stations adoptedthe recommended best practices. "Now that I have visited all places, next Iwon't be giving notice when I am coming, I will be for example, come from FortPortal and decide to pass through Kagadi then I will see whether you have donewhat we agreed upon," he said.
KakumiroMagistrate Court
This was the PJ's first stop wherehe was welcomed by the Magistrate Grade One, HW Lydia Kambedha. The court hasthree staff with a workload of 649 cases of which 40 are backlog.
In her report, the Magistratereported that both the Court building and furniture belong to the Town Council.It was observed that there was immediate need to get furniture. The judicialofficer does all the secretarial work since the staff there are computerilliterate.
KibaaleChief Magistrate Court
The Court which is housed by the Bunyorokingdom owned-building is manned by Magistrate Grade One, HW NiyokwizeraEmmanuel, with three support staff.
There are 752 cases pending beforethe magistrate of which 314 are backlog. That notwithstanding, in this calendaryear; 215 cases have been disposed of. These included 65 which were classifiedas backlog.
HW Niyokwizera informed the PJ thatthe Kingdom had allocated land to the Judiciary for construction of court andthe drafting process of the architectural design for the new court has commenced.
KagadiMagistrate Court
HW Nsibambi Lwanga, the MagistrateGrade One at Kagadi could not hide his happiness when he saw the PJ." You arethe very first Principal Judge to set foot in Kagadi Court, you are mostwelcome."
He reported that the Court only hasthree staff with a workload of 665 cases, 68 of which are backlogged. Themagistrate who is barely six months old at the station has cleared more than400 cases mainly through Plea Bargaining.
Although the Court is in rentedpremises, HW Nsibambi said that the district had identified land for theconstruction of a justice center. He however, recommended the operationalizationof two other gazetted courts at Mabaale and Muhoro given the long distancescourt users have to trek to reach court in Kagadi "I can circuit there sothat we can bring court services closer to the people," he said.
KyangwaliCourt
The Court that serves the KyangwaliRefugee Camp mostly handles SGBV cases with few land disputes and criminal mattersas shared by HW Atim Harriet, the court’s visiting Magistrate from Hoima.
This Court which employs only onestaff (an interpreter) has a total of 90 pending case with 20 as backlog. Themagistrate attributes the backlog to the prolonged lockdown which hinderedmobility within the district for the greater part of the year until September.
Together with the visiting ChiefMagistrate, HW Atim recommended the need for mobile courts in the refugeecamps, designation of the court as a hard to reach area and the establishmentof a court at Kikube.
BuserukaCourt
A team led by HW Esther Asiimwe, thecourt's circuiting Magistrate Grade One and members of the DistrictChain-linked Committee welcomed the Principal Judge and later addressed him onthe issues affecting the dispensation of justice in the area.
HW Asiimwe reported that the Courtonly has 19 pending cases. She attributed the low case registration to theabsence of a court prosecutor since February.
Hon. Justice Dr. Zeija applauded thelocal leadership for availing land for the construction of court.
HoimaCM Court
Still in the company of the CM ObongGeorge, magistrates Atim and Asiimwe, proceeded with the PJ to Hoima ChiefMagistrate’s Court.
The Court is manned by one visitingChief Magistrate, two Magistrate Grade One and nine administrative staff.
In a report presented by the CM, itwas observed that there were 455 cases pending before the CM, 194 of these arebacklog while 683 are pending before the Magistrates Grade One. Of these cases,215 are backlogged cases.
Overstaying of non-judicial officersfor even longer than 15 years at the station was among the key challengesunique to this court. The court also has an urgent need of furniture andrenovation.
ChallengesIdentified
Absence of Court prosecutors wasreported as the major challenge affecting justice administration across thecourts. Some of the courts have not had a state prosecutor for more sevenmonths and as such criminal proceedings have been crippled in court systemswhich has also contributed to the accumulating workload.
All the Courts reported gaps in theICT supplies. These included; insufficient computers, printers and internetcoupled with high computer illiteracy levels among the courts staff.
Other challenges include inadequatestaffing, insufficient furniture, inappropriate water and toilet systems,inaccessible remand homes and prisons, unreliable power sources and lack ofspace for vital offices.
In response, the PJ informed theJudicial Officers that he had recommended to the DPP to train police officersas prosecutors.
He reassured them that there are plansto increase the jurisdiction of Magistrates. "There is a law reform committeethat is looking at increasing the jurisdiction of Magistrates. Otherwise soonthe Grade One Magistrates won't be handling any cases, at all," the PJ saidadding that with such reforms and the implementation of the Administration ofthe Judiciary Act challenges in regards to staffing, workload and transportfacilitations will be gradually resolved.
The PJ toured courts at Bulisa,Masindi, Kiryandongo and Kigumba.
Posted 30th, November 2020
