Principal Judge warns judicial officers against absenteeism

Principal Judge Flavian Zeija has warned judicial officers and support staff against absenteeism, saying it affects service delivery.

“It has been noted that most of the judicial officers work for a few days and hours and yet by the [Public Service] standing orders, civil servants are supposed to work from Monday to Friday,” Justice Zeija said.

He said the Judiciary is putting up mechanisms to track the work of judicial officers in order to stem the challenge.

“This definitely will attract disciplinary action and judicial officers will learn to adhere to the best practices, including desisting from absenting themselves,” he said.

The Principal Judge made the remarks at the weekend during the  first-ever court open day at Mbale High Court, which was  attended by various key stakeholders, among them police, prisons, civil society, Ministry of Internal Affairs officials and lawyers.

The open day held under the theme, ‘Enhancing judicial accountability and access to justice,’ was aimed at, among other things, interacting with the litigants to get their opinion on the court services and to educate them about the processes and procedures of the courts.

Justice Zeija further stressed that the Judiciary transformation agenda is buttressed in the Judiciary’s Strategic Plan 2020-2025, whose main objective is to enhance equitable access to judiciary services and as well improve court processes and case management.

“We also intend to strengthen the use of ICT in the administration of justice and also develop and support the Judiciary workforce and institutional capacity and as well improve coordination, partnerships and accountability,” he said.

Mbale Chief Magistrate Suzan Awidi, said  she was happy to host an interaction where court users give feedback about court services for better improvement.
 
“The general turnout purely indicates that the court users are appreciating the court processes and procedures,” she said. 

Mr Alex Micheal Ojok from the office of the Directorate of Public Prosecutions said the biggest challenge they face is complainants who register cases without substantial evidence.  “That is why at times, we advise police to go back on ground to gather more pointing factors to back up the case,” he said.

He said under the Mbale area, the office of the DPP has only 14 state attorneys who are supposed to appear before eight magistrates. “We are limited by the number, but we have to acknowledge that most judicial officers bear with us,” he said.

Mbale Senior Resident Judge Godfrey Namondi, said the prime objective of the open day was meant to demystify court processes to court users.

He said creation of new districts created a demand for more legal services that needed to be addressed by establishing more courts in the area.

Mr David Walimbwa, a resident, said the Judiciary should ensure that their concerns raised, including missing files and corruption, are addressed.