New High Court to contain crime in Kumi, Ngora and Bukedea

There was excitement in Kumi District and the surrounding areas following the official launch of the Kumi High Court on Tuesday.
Various leaders from different walks of life expressed joy that the court will help in fighting crime in the Teso region and also bring judicial services closer to the public.

The new court will be serving three districts of Kumi, Ngora and Bukedea.
Acting Principal Judge Jane Okuo Kajuga, who launched the court on behalf of Chief Justice Alfonse Owiny-Dollo, said under his leadership, several courts have been opened, coupled with the recruitment of more judicial officers.

"We all acknowledge that under his leadership (Dollo's leadership), courts have expanded, more judicial officers recruited but that is the hardware; what matters most is the output of the work," Justice Okuo said.
Adding: "So the measure of the performance of the courts is going to be in its fairness. We commit as the Judiciary of Uganda to continue to look at all those aspects I have pointed out and judicial accountability."

Speaking at the same launch, Kumi mayor, Mr Richard Ochom, said the council was excited that they have already offered free land to construct the High Court, since for now, the court will be housed in the Magistrate Court building.
"As council, we are happy to offer land where the High Court structures will be built," the mayor said amidst ululations from the public.
He also took on the parents who side with their children who commit crimes in the area to stop.
Further in his remarks, the Mayor requested the Judiciary to establish a Municipal Court to deal with petty offences in the municipality.

"We are requesting a Municipal Court because our people don't want to respect the town rules. You find animals roaming in the town, destroying flowers, so we need a Municipal Court to deal with such offences," he requested.
Ms Gladys Nyanzi, the Assistant DPP who represented the office of the DPP, said that as the prosecution agency of the government, they are ready to handle cases in the High Court.
"Now we need more state prosecutors since we can't have only one state prosecutor to serve several judicial officers both in the Magistrates Court and the High Court," Ms Nyanzi said.

She said that in the three districts to be served by the Kumi High Court, 139 criminal cases have been committed and are ready for trial.
"We want to assure you that the office of the DPP is ready to give justice to the people of Kumi. As our motto says, we are ready to ensure a crime-free society," she said.
Mr Emmy Sayeko, the registrar of the newly launched court, dared the litigants to point fingers at him if he had ever asked or taken a bribe from them.

"I want to start on a clean sheet without any taint of corruption. I dare any one of you if I have ever demanded for bribe, show up,"Mr Sayeko dared the litigants.

The vice chairman of LC5 Kumi District, Mr Sam Akol said with the launch of Kumi High Court, there will be a reduction in transportation costs that had been incurred by the litigants who used to travel long distances to Soroti High Court to attend to their cases.

"This (the launch of the High Court) has now reduced on transport costs by the court users. In my village, if someone had to go to Soroti High Court, he or she had to sell a goat or cow to travel there but now with the launch of this court, one will just jump onto a bicycle and ride there since the distance has been shortened," he said.
Kumi District Woman MP, Christine Apolot welcomed the launch of the new court before asking the judicial officers to differentiate to litigants between which cases are handled by the High Court and which ones are handled by the Magistrates Court.

She also tasked the judicial leaders present to explain what happens to bail money.
Kumi High Court is among the five recently operationalised High Court circuits across the country in a bid to bring judicial services closer to the people.

The other new High Court circuits are: Wakiso, Patongo in Northern Uganda, Lugazi, and Entebbe.
The additional five High Courts now bring the number of High Court circuits to 29 across the country.