Anne Mugisa and Hillary Nsambu
13 January 2009
Kampala — PPRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni has asked the Judiciary to put in place a mechanism to deal with judges who make biased judgments.
"I support the independence of the Judiciary as an institution and also the independence of individual judges in their decision making. But I have a problem when a judge makes an obvious mistake of law and fact," Museveni said.
"Shouldn't there be some audit to ask someone why they made an obvious mistake in abuse of individual independence?" he asked.
The President did not cite any specific case or judge. Museveni was opening the 11th judges' annual conference at the Imperial Resort Beach Hotel in Entebbe.
The judges from the Supreme Court, the High Court, as well as registrars, hold an annual conference to review the past year and chart out operations for the year ahead.
Museveni's remarks followed those made by the Chief Justice, Benjamin Odoki, that the independence of the judiciary should be protected, but that judges should be responsible for bad behaviour.
The President said the public perception of the judiciary had been dented as indicated by complaints and the reports from the Inspectorate of Government.
He said the Judiciary, the Police and recently State House were indicated as not perceived well by the public.
"These institutions perceived not to be doing their work must examine themselves," Museveni said.
He, however, said the Chief Justice was right to observe that some of the ills blamed on the judiciary were omissions and commissions of others in the justice delivery system, such as the Police.
"I talked of instituting a judicial commission of inquiry but people were not happy. I got intimidated, but I haven't given up. Judges should be examined by fellow judges," Museveni said, adding that the Police were improving because of the implementation of the Ssebutinde commission recommendations.
On the public perception of the Judiciary, Museveni advised that the institution should study what the court martial does to convince the people that it is committed to their aspirations.
He said the presence of the Court Martial tamed the soldiers because they learnt the consequences of their actions.
Museveni also said trying civilians caught with illegal firearms by the Court martial had also tamed Karamoja into a peaceful place.
He said the Karimojong convicted by the Court Martial can appeal against the conviction, but public can see that the Government is protecting them.
"Now the people in Karamoja are growing rice, cassava, sorghum and other crops. Karamoja is going to be a power house for Uganda," Museveni said.
Karamoja has for decades been ruled by armed rustlers and warriors who often raided neighbouring regions for livestock, especially cattle.
The Government instituted a disarmament exercise, where the warriors were urged to voluntarily hand in their illegal guns. The defiant ones face the court martial.
The President also asked the judiciary to prioritise cases and deal with graver ones first because of limited resources.
He said cases like murder, defilement, rape and other capital offences should be given priority.
The others, he said, were commercial cases and cases regarding land. He said these were also crucial for stabilising the country and aiding economic growth.
The President also said the government would improve the judges' pay and logistical requirements. He did not disclose when, but said the economy was growing and improving chances for better remuneration.
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