By Aggrey Baba
What was supposed to be an off-ramp for many Ugandans to directly engage with the Judiciary ended with many wondering why they had been brought to Kololo only to be denied the usual opportunity to freely ask questions.
The 3rd National Court Open Day was held at Kololo Ceremonial Grounds on Thursday, September 10, organized under the theme “Delivering Inclusive, Efficient and Effective Justice” and attracted many people from different parts of the country.
But unlike previous editions, there was no conventional public question-and-answer session where participants could stand up and directly put their concerns to judges and senior Judiciary officials. Yet Ugandans travelled near and far, and came to call expecting Baraza-style of meeting where they would be free to give their feedback without being gagged.
Instead, those with questions were required to locate a complaints desk, record their concerns and wait for the organizers to select and read some of them, which meant that the public did not necessarily get to ask the questions they had travelled to Kololo to verbally ask.
By the time the programme ended, fewer than 10 questions had been publicly read and answered, despite the large number of potential questioners attending the event with different grievances.
The arrangement was particularly curious given that the Open Day itself was advertised as an opportunity for the public to interact directly with the Judiciary and provide feedback on the administration of justice.
Matters were further complicated by the sheer number of tents and exhibition desks spread across the venue.
While the organizers of the event had established specialized points for land, commercial, family and other matters, locating the appropriate desk was not always straightforward.
This appeared to create an even bigger challenge for elderly court users and people who had travelled from far-off villages and were unfamiliar with the layout of the venue.
The Judiciary, however, appeared to have deliberately moved away from the previous question-and-answer format.
Judiciary spokesperson James Ereemye Mawanda explained that court users were instead being directed to specialized desks where their individual complaints could be handled as opposed to having the opportunity to verbally ask in plenary fashion.
“We have encouraged the court users to go to those different stalls like Land, Commercial, Family, so anyone with an issue, when you go to any of those stalls, you will really get quick responses,” Mr. Ereemye clarified.
But the experiences of some of those who managed to find the right desks illustrate why direct public engagement remains important. One of them was 78-year-old Mr. Bashaboomwe Elidad, a Bwebajja resident who travelled to Kololo over a land dispute involving approximately 100 acres in Kikuube District, Bugambe Sub-county, Kyambala Central LC1.
Bashaboomwe said he acquired the land collectively while working as a teacher, only for other people to later encroach on it and claim ownership.
The evidently exhausted senior citizen told Mulengera News that he went to court and obtained an order for their eviction, with bailiffs being provided to effect the order. The eviction was carried out, but the encroachers subsequently returned, leaving the old man seeking another avenue to enforce his rights.
At the Lands desk, he was advised to return to court through his lawyers and obtain another eviction order, and also report the alleged criminal trespass and non adherence with the existing court order.
For Bashaboomwe, therefore, the Open Day still served its purpose despite the restricted public questioning.
“I’m really satisfied with the advice I have been accorded. That’s why I hurried to ensure that I come when I heard of this arrangement over the radio. I pray that I get justice,” he said.
Another case that exposed the kind of issues people had travelled to Kololo with involved Ms Dorothy Mukasa of Nakaseke District.
Mukasa said her family has occupied an ancestral piece of land since about 1920 and that her great-great-grandparents are buried there.
She said her grandfather had 19 sons, meaning the ancestral land and graveyard have significance for 19 family branches.
However, according to Mukasa, one of the relatives now claims the land exclusively and has allegedly chased the rest of the family away.
The matter has become distressing because Mukasa’s father is now 96 years old and, according to her, is deeply worried about the ancestral property but is no longer in a position to personally fight over it.
She said the family recently organized a gathering at the ancestral home but was chased away by the relative (Sam Mukasa) with the help of security personnel. She came expecting a platform to openly and publicly narrate her ordeal only for the same not to be available. Those days of CJ Bart Katureebe and Yerokam Bamwine serving as Principal Judge, open court day meant Ugandans having the unrestricted opportunity to freely express themselves about the quality of justice they had been receiving.
The judiciary leaders would respond immediately, besides designing appropriate interventions aimed at making things better. Katureebe and Bamwine insisted on transparency and the media would be encouraged to film and report everything. The two leaders were deliberate about open methods of work and were never afraid of court users criticizing them openly but that was then. It’s therefore understandable why some of the court users left the Thursday Kololo event nostalgic about the Katureebe-Bamwine days.
BACK TO MUKASA:
At the Lands desk, Mukasa was advised to first engage the Nakaseke Resident District Commissioner (RDC).
She said the family would present its side to the RDC and, if that avenue failed, proceed to court.
Several court users used the Open Day to complain about delayed justice, including cases where disputes had already been resolved through mediation but court processes had not been completed.
Dr. Aisha Bukenya, a local medicine manufacturer under Marvid Pharmaceuticals, said she successfully mediated a dispute with Royal Group of Pakistan in December last year but was still waiting for the release of security deposits as ordered by court. “We completed everything, but nine months now, we’re being tossed around by court. We don’t know why they don’t give us our money,” she said.
Another court user complained about a land dispute dating back to the early 1990s which has now reached the appellate stage, only for him to discover that his file allegedly had no memorandum of appeal.
Such complaints suggest that even where the Judiciary is promoting mediation and other alternative dispute resolution mechanisms as faster and cheaper avenues, many people still encounter administrative and procedural bottlenecks after reaching settlements.
Deputy Chief Justice Moses Kawumi Kazibwe urged the public to embrace alternative dispute resolution, saying mediation can bring justice closer to the people while reducing the financial and emotional burden associated with prolonged litigation.
The Open Day was also intended to showcase judicial reforms including electronic filing, case tracking, court-annexed mediation, plea bargaining and the Small Claims Procedure.
However, the relatively modest turnout, coupled with the limited opportunity for direct questioning, created a curious contrast with the stated objective of increasing transparency while making justice more accessible and inclusive. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
