Zadock Amanyisa | Tayari News
KAMPALA – President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has asked the members of the judiciary to support the transformation of communities in Uganda by facilitating access to quick and cheap justice.
In the speech read by the Vice President, Maj(Rtd) Jessica Alupo, who represented him at the opening of the New Law Year ceremony held in Kampala on Thursday 5th February, President Museveni said, “the judiciary plays a big role in the social economic transformation of our communities in line with the focus of the NRM government to develop Uganda through promoting wealth creation.”
Noting that the National Resistance Movement (NRM) government is committed to fostering economic transformation through eradicating poverty, raising household incomes and moving away from subsistence production to a market-oriented production and commodity value addition, President Museveni said that transformation has several enablers such as protection of wildlife resources, environment, energy, preventing and containing climate change as well as infrastructure and human capital development and these critical areas involve land, investment and transport infrastructure which are prone to disputes and that’s where the judiciary should come in.
“We therefore need a supportive judiciary that will quickly resolve disputes and liberate these key factors of production for further use. This is also important for the success of the parish development model so that land and other resources necessary for production are not made redundant due to disputes.” He said
He charged the judiciary to position itself to be more creative, innovative and strategic in devising mechanisms for quicker resolution of disputes to avoid frustrating people and investors.
President Museveni, who is the president-elect, hailed the judiciary for expanding courts across Uganda, saying it is a big contribution towards promoting justice.
“I am very happy that the judiciary in the last few years has expanded the coverage of courts across the country to deliver services efficiently and effectively. This contributes greatly to the preservation of peace and security when people know that they can receive justice quickly, fairly cheaply,” the President remarked.
Congratulating Hon. Justice Alfonse Owiny-Dollo, the Chief Justice Emeritus, upon his retirement and more so on his committed, transformative and exemplary leadership, President Museveni expressed his confidence in the new Chief Justice, Dr Flavian Zeija, charging him to continue the transformation of the judiciary and promotion of a harmonious working relationship with the executive for the good of our people.
The president appealed to the lawyers to be committed, act professionally, conduct themselves ethically and be available when required to help the courts resolve disputes expeditiously.
“Embrace and promote alternative dispute resolution, including reconciliation, in resolving cases, which can help in eliminating case backlog. Lawyers must not be the cause of delayed justice by playing delaying tactics and behaving unprofessionally.
In his maiden speech at the ceremony, the Chief Justice, Dr Zeija, said that the ceremony “serves as a timely reminder to our community of the vital role the Judiciary plays in upholding justice and the rule of law. It also provides an opportunity to reaffirm the core values upon which our legal and judicial institutions are founded.”
He added that the opening ceremony underscores the Judiciary’s obligation to account to the public from whom it derives its mandate and offers a platform through which the Judiciary explains to the people of Uganda how justice was administered in the preceding year.
The Attorney General, Hon. Kiryowa Kiwanuka, pledged to adopt into law the National Policy on Alternative Dispute Resolution and domesticate the Singapore Convention on Mediation, while the Justice Minister, Norbert Mao, said he will improve access to justice for Ugandans.