Chief Justice Alfonse Owiny- Dollo has rebuked lawyers and members of the public claiming the Judiciary is in crisis, saying the crisis is only in their heads.
Owiny-Dollo made the remarks during the 7th lecture in the memory of the first Ugandan Chief Justice, Benedicto Kiwanuka, at the Judiciary headquarters in Kampala on Friday.
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“I came into office when the Judiciary budget was at sh198b and it has now been increased to sh460b. If the Chief Justice cannot hold barazas with the President and Speaker (of Parliament), where will he get the funds? I hear some people saying the Judiciary is in crisis, you leave people with a crisis in their heads and continue with your work,” Owiny-Dollo told the judicial officers.
“I hear voices saying the Chief Justice must stand up to rebuke those responsible for the abuse of human rights.
That is not how a Chief Justice or judicial officers should do their work. When the matter becomes a court case and comes before the Chief Justice or any judicial officer, that is the time and opportunity, like it was with Judas, to pronounce himself or herself and rebuke the abuse of human rights and wrong committed to anyone.”
Kiwanuka was abducted from his chambers at the High Court in Kampala on September 21, 1972, by armed soldiers and has never been seen again. This implies that he was killed, although his burial site remains unknown.
Owiny-Dollo said Kiwanuka died defending the rule of law whenever a case was brought before him in court — he never issued statements or held press conferences to condemn the abuse of human rights.
“This notion (that if) there is teargas on the streets, the Chief Justice must speak up, it is either done out of ignorance or out of professional dishonesty,” he said.
Owiny-Dollo vowed to continue collaborating with the Executive and Parliament, because it is the only way the Judiciary will achieve its agenda of access to justice for all.
“The three arms of government are like the three cooking stones, they do not touch, but they complement one another,” he noted.
In a speech read by the Speaker of Parliament, Anita Among, President Yoweri Museveni appreciated the Judiciary for remembering Kiwanuka.
He said: “Kiwanuka was murdered in cold blood in September 1972, when he was dragged away by functionalities of the Idi Amin regime. He suffered a brutal murder, when he was forced into a car boot and taken to Makindye Military barracks, where he was killed.
Occasions like this one give us an opportunity to reflect on our history, which was characterised by extra-judicial killings that were being carried out with impunity.”
Museveni said extra-judicial killings and the need to restore democracy and rule of law is the reason he led a group of 27 “patriotic Ugandans” to liberate the country from the dictatorship.
“From the time we took over power in 1986 to date, the National Resistance Movement government has wrestled the rule of law and peace throughout the country. After decades of misrule since independence, we are now on the journey to promote sustainable peace, development and prosperity,” the President said.
In her remarks, Among underscored the importance of collaboration among the three arms of government, saying it is done for the good of the people they serve.
In a keynote address, Dr Zahara Nampewo, the deputy principal of Makerere University School of Law, said: “Judges should not be subject to inappropriate influence and individual judges must be free from any pressure that could affect their impartiality or the way they perform their duties.”
Nampewo said judicial independence, bureaucracy, case backlog, delays in delivery of judgments, lack of transparency on case scheduling, silence on illegal detention and torture, as well as judicial protection of rights remain the biggest challenges for the Judiciary.
The Uganda Law Society vice-president Martin Asingwire said: “the body understands that the arms of government have to work together to achieve what we want, but it should never amount to control, especially for the Judiciary.”
The former Deputy Chief Justice, Seith Manyindo and the former Principal Judge, James Ogoola, were recognised with the ‘Benedicto Kiwanuka Award’.
Ogoola said he was glad to get the award of a man who paid the ultimate price in defence of the rule of law and human rights.
The three arms of government are like the three cooking stones, they do not touch, but they complement one another.
WHO WAS BENEDICTO KIWANUKA?
Prior to his Judiciary assignment, Kiwanuka was an eminent politician, who was instrumental in the processes leading to Uganda’s attainment of independence from colonialists in October 1962.
Born in 1922 in Bukomansimbi district, Kiwanuka was an advocate of the High Court, head of the Democratic Party, chief minister of Uganda’s Self Government (1961- 62) and Uganda’s first Prime Minister.
In December 1969, he was one of the political prisoners taken to Luzira Prison by Milton Obote’s government.
He was in January 1971 released by Idi Amin following a coup and subsequently named Chief Justice (by Amin) in March 1971.
