Nakawa High Court scrapped

Kampala. Nakawa High Court circuit, which has been handling cases for most of the central districts, is being phased out. The dissolution will be completed on July 1.
Principal Judge Yorokamu Bamwine, the administrative head of the High Court, explained that limited courtroom space and the elusive location of the court were the core reasons the Judiciary deemed it fit to phase it out. He said the court could not be easily accessed by litigants because of its obscure location.
The Nakawa High Court is based in Naguru at a hard-to-locate place.

Justice Bamwine said the court had two judges, 27 support staff and more than 7,000 case files to handle.
He said when the Judiciary created different High Court circuits to bring justice closer to the people, the Nakawa court was one of them. He said it was intended to serve the central Buganda region, covering Mpigi, Mubende, Kiboga and Entebbe areas. He said the court was established at the same premises for Nakawa Chief Magistrate’s Court.

He, however, said this move created another challenge as there seemed to be no difference between the Magistrate’s Court and the High Court.
“We relocated to Naguru side, but the building there was not convenient. It was not a typical court building as there was no parking space for lawyers, who found themselves parking along the road,” Justice Bamwine explained.

Can’t wait
“Since the JLOS House Project that is expected to accommodate most of the courts is at the procurement stage, we can’t wait for the completion of the process that might be after 10 years from now. That is why we decided to disband the court,” he added.
Besides shortage of space and complex accessibility, Justice Bamwine said the Nakawa court was not a specialised division of the High Court. He said this meant any category of cases would be filed before the court.
Justice Bamwine said currently, no new cases are being filed at the Naguru-based court and neither is there a judge.
He explained that the old cases are being reorganised by the Registrar and will soon be transferred to the respective divisions of the High Court for further handling.
He said land-related cases will be forwarded to the Land Division, and those about family issues will be taken to the Family Division.

Justice Bamwine said the two judges at the dissolved court have already been redeployed, with Justice Damalie Lwanga, going to the Land Division and Justice Elizabeth Ibanda Nahamya going to the High Court in Masindi.
He said about 20 of the support staff will also be redeployed.
He said some cases formerly filed at the disbanded court can now be lodged at the newly created High Court in Mukono.
He reassured that despite the disbandment of the court, people in the central Buganda districts will get more access to justice than before.
He added that more High Court circuits will be created to ease the delivery of justice.

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