Chief Justice Alfonse Owiny-Dollo has thanked President Museveni for understanding the critical role the Judiciary plays in the development of Uganda.
He was speaking at the opening of the 24th Annual Judges’ Conference held at Mestil Hotel, Kampala on Monday.
The four-day event is running under the theme: “The Judiciary Transformation Agenda: Enhanced Access to Justice.”
He explained that the conference is a forum where judicial officers of the Upper Bench of Uganda meet once a year to confer, share experience, audit their performance in the immediate previous year and to chat the way forward for the current calendar year.
“Your Excellency, we thank you for supporting the Judiciary agenda. We look forward to your continued support in enhancing our budget in order to enable us to achieve these milestones,” the Chief Justice said.
The Chief Justice also requested to have the Judiciary’s budget enhanced so that they can be able to improve the arm’s infrastructural setup and recruit more judicial officers to deal with the judicial challenges they face.
“Your Excellency, when these reforms are funded and implemented, we hope to have a robust Judiciary that is accountable and capable of delivering quality and timely justice in accordance with our Vision, Mission and Strategic Plan,” Justice Alfonse Owiny – Dollo told Gen. Museveni.
The Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Hon. Norbert Mao, informed the President that the Administration of the Judiciary Act which he supported throughout its process of enactment until he signed it into law is an important piece of legislation in governing the Judiciary.
“Your Excellency, once the Act is fully operationalised, I am very certain the Judiciary will be sustainably transformed into a new Judiciary that will see a tremendous reduction in and elimination of case backlog, timely delivery of justice, increased investment and economic growth as a result of investor confidence in the justice system of Uganda, taking judicial services nearer to the people, promoting peace, the rule of law and constitutionalism in the country,” Hon. Mao said in a statement read for him by the Attorney General, Hon. Kiryowa Kiwanuka.
The event was also attended by the Chief Justice of South Africa, His Lordship Hon. Justice Raymond M.M. Zondo, Hon. Justice Angelina Mensah-Homiah of the Court of Appeal of Ghana, Hon. Justice Afia Serwah Asare-Botwe of the High Court of Ghana, Ambassadors and Ugandan judicial officers among others.