Let judges do their work, Mao tells Museveni
Minister of State for Internal Affairs Gen David Muhoozi (L) with his Justice and Constitutional Affairs counterpart Norbert Mao during the release of the annual Justice Law and Order Sector report in Kampala on Tuesday. PHOTO | COURTESY OF THE MINISTRY OF JUSTICE
What you need to know:
- The Justice Minister says some of the judges are being threatened with how they would be reported to the head of state if they ruled in a certain way
The Justice minister says some of the judges are being threatened with how they would be reported to the head of state if they ruled in a certain way
Justice and Constitutional Affairs minister Norbert Mao has asked President Museveni not to entertain litigants who lose cases and petition him instead of appealing to higher courts and allowing them to do their work as mandated by the Constitution.
Mr Mao said as a result, some of the judges are being threatened with how they would be reported to the head of State if they ruled in a certain way.
“...Some of our judges are being threatened by petitions to the President. If you lose a case, for God's sake, appeal. Don't write to the President accusing the judge of all sorts of things,” Mr Mao said on Tuesday during the release of the annual Justice Law and Order Sector report in Kampala.
He added: “There's a judge right now on suspension, I think. I don't know the situation. The Judicial Service Commission, I think, is handling her case. A Cabinet minister wrote to the President saying this judge is biased. Then I think it is the same judge handling the case of the Muslim Supreme Council, then they write to the President and say she's a Sunni, I don't know Shia. I think the President should not be entertaining that. He should be chasing them back to the court. Why do we have a Court of Appeal and a Supreme Court? These things turn our laws into a joke.”
Mr Mao encouraged judges not to heed to the intimidation and to make their solid decisions and judgments.
“I don't want judges fearing that somebody powerful is going to…, What we don't want is people to do wrong. But being wrong as a judge is not an offence. Judgments are opinions applying facts to the law, and your opinion can be wrong. That's why we have these appeal courts. So the judiciary then will get intimidated, particularly these acting judges,” he said.
“So, for all of you senior people who are here, empower your people (judges). Tell them you'll stand by them when they make a decision that is sound in line with the law. Otherwise, what will be the point?” he added.
The minister also encouraged the judges to quickly pass rulings in the cases that they handle if they are to avoid being accused of bias.
“I wish to appeal to the Judiciary to make decisions quickly so that you are not accused of being in bargaining, you know, they say the Judiciary takes time, they are still bargaining with the parties, who is going to pay more. So make a quick decision. After all, you know the law,” he said.
In August, legal minds raised their eyebrows after Justice Faridah Bukirwa, who was appointed in an acting capacity by President Museveni, had not been confirmed, unlike her colleagues.
This saw Principal Judge Flavian Zeija direct the judge to hand over all the case files in her possession and leave office until her appointment is made substantive.
“…Therefore, since your acting period as a High Court judge expires on August 15, 2024, this is to request you to hand over your office, all Judiciary property, and case files to the head of the Jinja High Court Circuit as we investigate why your instruments of appointment were never received by the Judiciary,” a letter by the Principal Judge to Justice Bukirwa read.
The woes against Justice Bukirwa came about following the ruling she had issued, allowing three Muslims to convene the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council (UMSC) General Assembly.
To that effect, she directed the trio of applicants to elect a neutral chairperson to convene the General Assembly at a neutral venue and report the resolutions of the meeting to the court.
But her decision drew an uproar from the leadership of the UMSC, who accused her of issuing the orders in violation of their constitution.
This saw the leadership at the UMSC petition the High Court in Kampala for a judicial review of Justice Bukirwa’s orders.
In another incident, first Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for East African Affairs Rebecca Kadaga filed a petition to the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), accusing Justice Bukirwa of bias and abusing her judicial authority.
This stems from an unspecified case in which the judge was accused of delivering a verdict too early.
However, in an October 30 ruling, the JSC dismissed the Kadaga petition, saying it lacked merit.
“On account of the aforementioned matters, the Judicial Service Commission, in its 81st meeting held on Wednesday 4 and 5, September 2024, in its minute 1030/ JSC/ resolved that the complaint against Lady Justice Bukirwa of abuse of judicial authority and bias during the hearing of miscellaneous cause no. 24 of 2022 Ngobi Anthony Vs Olivia Orishaba and issuing an 11-month adjournment in application No. 118 of 2023; Olivia Orishaba Vs Ngobi Anthony be closed for lack of merit,” the JSC ruled.
