Parliament approves six High Court judges
(L-R) Newly appointed judges including Mr Matovu, Ms Ayebazibwe and Ms Basaza wait outside the committee room before they were vetted at Parliament yesterday. Photo by Goefrey sseruyange.
What you need to know:
The judges will help to fill the void that currently faces the Judiciary. They will also help in dealing with the case backlog.
PARLIAMENT- Parliament’s Appointments Committee has cleared the six judges to serve in the High Court.
The committee chaired by the Speaker of Parliament, Ms Rebecca Kadaga, cleared four High Court judges, including Ms Patricia Basaza Wasswa, Jessica Ayebazibwe, David Matovu and Margaret Mutonyi.
Mr Asaph Ntengye Ruhinda, formerly the Registrar of Courts, and Ms Lillian Tumusiime were vetted as Chief Judge and Judge of the Industrial Court respectively.
Committee sources told the Daily Monitor all the six were approved without much hustle.
Speaking shortly after the meeting, some of the appointees pointed out corruption and low levels of integrity as some of the challenges facing the judiciary.
“In any institution, there are good apples and bad ones. I think it takes personal initiative to avoid such instances,” Ms Wasswa said.
Ms Mutonyi stressed the need for judges to desist from corrupt tendencies, calling upon the public to join in fighting graft.
“The public should know that it takes two to tango. They play a great role and should not compromise the judiciary. As an institution, the judicially is not corrupt but it is only a few individuals,” she said.
“There is a lot of case backlog, which has always been mentioned. We will find means of reducing this, of course, will need a lot of team work,” Ms Ayebazibwe said.
The Industrial Court could be the most affected by case backlog, having been defunct for about 10 years.
Mr Ntengye said since the court has not been operational for years, there is need to clear hundreds of cases that have been piling up.
Recently, Principle Judge, Yokoramu Bamwine decried the low number of judges in the High Court, despite the appointment of the six judges. He said the High Court still needed 20 more judges.
The High Court currently has 60 judges, however, Mr Bamwine says the court requires between 130 and 150 judges to deliver justice.
