KAMPALA – Barely a week after engaging Parliament’s Budget Committee and the Legal Committee, the Chief Justice, Alfonse Chigamoy Owiny – Dollo, on Friday led the Judiciary’s Terms and Conditions Committee to meet with the Speaker of Parliament, Rebecca Kadaga.
The meeting held at the Serena Hotel in Kampala discussed the implementation plan of the Administration of Judiciary Act and the challenges in place, and possible solutions.
Ms Kadaga welcomed the engagement, observing that the Act will lead to a “more robust system of justice”.
She noted that there were human resource gaps in the Judiciary and that Parliament would support a work plan to ensure that the positions are filled over a specified period.
Justice Dollo said the Speaker’s proposal was welcome, especially with collaboration amongst the two institutions. “When we work together, we can achieve a lot,” he said.
Court of Appeal’s Justice Geoffrey Kiryabwire, who also chairs the Judiciary Terms and Conditions Committee, described the engagement as a milestone.
“Today is a historical day when leaders of the two arms of Government sit together in consultation on a critical area of common interest. This is a big milestone that we need to acknowledge,” he said, adding that Judiciary’s earlier benchmarking with the Parliamentary Commission would have been incomplete without getting insights from the Speaker herself.
Besides Parliament, the Judiciary also engaged the Office of the Auditor-General to get first-hand information about the transition of service to independence, funding of operations, and human resource management.
Others in attendance at the Friday meeting were: Judges Margaret Mutonyi and Tadeo Asiimwe (UJOA President), Mr Pius Bigirimana (Secretary to the Judiciary), HW Sarah Langa Siu (Chief Registrar), HW Amos Kwizera (Registrar Planning and Development), Ms Maureen Kasande (Under Secretary), and Ms Apophia Tumwine (Ag. Commissioner Human Resource), among others.
