The new Chief Justice Alfonse Owiny-Dollo has called for the appointment of more judicial officers to enable Ugandans to access justice.
Owiny-Dollo was speaking on Tuesday after being sworn in as Chief Justice together with his Deputy Richard Buteera at State House, Entebbe.
The event was attended by President Yoweri Museveni.
He is the 13th Chief Justice of Uganda since 1962 when the country got its independence.
“My immediate appeal to the president and the executive is to pay more attention to enabling Ugandans to receive timely and meaningful justice. We are committed to giving meaning to your vision,” he said.
“How can the Chief Justice ensure that there is a speedy, timely rendering of justice when one judge has to look after 4,000 files? My immediate appeal to you as head of this country is that we must and immediately for something,” Owiny-Dollo added.
He said they are committed and ready to dispense justice which can only be achieved with the required human resource.
In his part president Museveni acknowledged the Chief Justice’s words noting that they were very clear.
“These remind me of two issues; proper prioritization: When we were in the bush, we were two groups; the population and the freedom fighters. When we took power, we met the elites. The elites’ man are the three arms of government; administration, political class, and the judiciary. We have a conflict with the elite, but we have managed it. It has not exploded,” he said.
Museveni added that in the bush, they had shortage of food but the little food was given to the one on duty.
“We are all hungry but my decision was let’s have one person who isn’t hungry and that’s the Judiciary. We have few judges because of poor prioritization against my wish. If we prioritize well, there is no problem,” he said.
“My priorities are defence, security, law and order, transport, electricity, education, and health. Other things can come slowly. If you handle this, the country will be stable and developing,” Museveni added.
He said the indiscipline of the elite is what we have to deal with noting that; “We the people from the bush, have no problem.”
Owiny-Dollo was serving as Deputy Chief Justice under Rtd CJ Bart Katureebe and his elevation will now make him head the Judiciary which is one of the arms of government