(Fort Portal) – There seems to be a new trend taking the lead in Uganda’s judiciary: the adjournment trend. It is not just a case of “we’ll get to it tomorrow”. It IS a case of “tomorrow might never come,” especially if there’s money to be made today.
Principal Judge Dr. Flavian Zeija, no stranger to the courtroom’s drama, has sounded the alarm on this growing trend, where requests for adjournments are being used less as a legal tool and more as a cunning strategy to line pockets. During the Justice Law and Order Circuit Open Court Day at Fort Portal’s High House, Zeija didn’t mince words. He pointed out that these delays are not just inconveniences but are fertile ground for corruption to flourish in Uganda’s judiciary.
Delays, Lawyers, and Money Games
Imagine you’re in court for a land case that has more twists and turns than a telenovela. Every time you think you’re getting closer to a resolution, your lawyer stands up, clears his throat, and requests yet another adjournment. Why? Because, according to Zeija, there’s a lucrative game being played behind the scenes. Lawyers, it seems, have discovered that the more times they appear in court, the more they get paid. And who could resist a few extra shillings, even if it means dragging your case on for years?
Court clerks and a cast of shady brokers are lurking in the wings, ready to exploit the situation. These middlemen, who have about as much integrity as a weevil in a grain sack, are quick to hook themselves onto desperate litigants, offering to ‘fix’ their cases for a fee. Of course, none of this money goes to the judges themselves, but it does grease the wheels of a system already buckling under the weight of its own inefficiencies.
And while these courtroom delays continue, the consequences are far from just a delayed judgement. Senior Resident Judge Vincent Mugabo highlighted the situation at Katojo Prisons, where the inmate population is swelling like a Ugandan river after heavy rains. With just a handful of judges available to process thousands of cases, it’s no wonder that justice is moving at the pace of a snail on a bad day.
The numbers tell a grim story: by the end of the last financial year, Katojo had 1,242 inmates, 378 of whom have been languishing in the system for more than two years, waiting for a judgement that might never come, all because their cases is lost in a sea of adjournments and backlogs.
Mugabo pointed out that Fort Portal alone has 158 pending cases, with surrounding districts like Kamwenge and Bundibugyo contributing hundreds more. Two judges, he noted, simply can’t handle this kind of load in a timely manner. It’s like trying to plough a field with a spoon—futile and frustrating.
The Rise of Mob Justice
Boma West LC1 Chairperson Apollo Mbanda warned that these delays are driving people to take the law into their own hands. When cases, especially land disputes, drag on for years, patience runs out, and fists start flying. Mob action has become an all too-common response, with people deciding that if the courts won’t deliver justice, they’ll do it themselves—with or without legal backing.
Divorce, Defilement
Adding fuel to this already blazing fire are the rising cases of divorce and defilement, as Chief Magistrate Moses Nabewnda pointed out. Early marriages are leading to defilement cases, while the pressures of these unresolved issues are causing marriages to crumble. As if the courts didn’t have enough on their plates, now they’re dealing with the fallout from societal issues that aren’t being addressed because of adjournments.
But all is not lost. Principal Judge Zeija also shared some hopeful news: the judiciary is working on expanding its reach by establishing more courts across the country. The idea is to bring justice closer to the people, reducing the time and distance they have to travel to get their day in court. Regional circuits of the Court of Appeal are being introduced, with every constituency slated to get a Grade One Magistrate and every district a Chief Magistrate.
During the open court day, the public didn’t hold back their frustrations. Delayed justice, misconduct by court bailiffs, and extortion by court brokers were hot topics. For many, it felt like they were trapped in a very bad film, where the villains always seem to get away with their schemes, leaving the ordinary person to pick up the pieces.
The idea behind these Open Court Days is simple: give the public a platform to air their grievances and educate them about how the justice system is supposed to work. It’s like holding a community baraza, but with wigs, robes, and a lot more legal jargon. The goal is to build trust between the courts and the people they serve, but as the complaints poured in, it was clear that trust is something the judiciary will have to work hard to regain.
