Africa-Press – Uganda. Lawmakers on the Appointments Committee of Parliament yesterday endorsed seven judges to the Court of Appeal and High Court with bipartisan calls to deal with the backlog and corruption in Judiciary.
Last week, President Museveni elevated former High Court judge Eva Luswata and Justice Christopher Gashirabake, the former Deputy Solicitor General, to the Court of Appeal.
Justice Eva Lustwata Kavuma joins the Court of Appeal.
The appointees include former registrar of the Supreme Court, Mr Tom Chemutai, the former Registrar of the Court of Judicature, Mr Lawrence Tweyanze, and Mr Vincent Wagona, the Deputy Director of Public Prosecution.
Mr Tom Chemutai (L) the former Registrar of the Supreme Court, was appointed to the Court of Appeal. Mr Lawrence Tweyanze was also elevated to the Court of Appeal.
Others are Deputy Director of Public Prosecution Alice Komuhangi and and Florence Nakachwa, who had been serving as the deputy director at Law Development Centre.
Ms Alice Komuhangi after the vetting process by the Appointments Committee at Parliament.
In an interview with Daily Monitor, newly appointed High Court judge Nakachwa pledged to deliver on her new mandate.
Ms Nakachwa, among others, vowed to work towards reducing the case backlog that has for long plagued the Judiciary.
Ms Florence Nakachwa joins the High Court bench.
She said this can be done through use of innovative measures that she didn’t specifically point out.
“Some cases don’t have to stay on the court record for too long before disposal, some cases, parties can be allowed to discuss matters and they agree how to settle,” Ms Nakachwa said.
Mr Vincent Wagona before the vetting process by the Appointments Committee at Parliament yesterday.
Auditor General’s report
The Auditor General, Mr John Muwanga, warned of the many case files in various courts, saying it has left prisons overcrowded and condemned suspects to longer time in prisons.
Mr Muwanga’s warning was contained in his February 2021 Auditor General’s report to Parliament where he said a four-year trend analysis of the schedule of cases under the office of the Directorate of Public Prosecution shows that the number of cases increased from 1,993,572 cases in 2019 to 2,373,861 cases in 2020.
The Legal Committee in its report for the 2021/2022 Budget Framework paper decried the slow rate of disposal of cases within the Judiciary, recording disposal rate of 131,385 cases in 2020 compared to 173,200 in 2019.
The report also raised concern on prolonged period of cases in court that was found to be extremely high at more than 100 days on average, affecting the cost of doing business in the country and access to justice.
The Supreme Court level takes an average of 1,572 and 802 days respectively to officially dispose of a case.
At magistrate courts, it takes an average of 325 days, creating huge case backlog.
An additional Shs129.67 billion is required to increase the disposal rate of cases at all court levels to reverse this trend.
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