The Principal Judge of the High Court of Uganda will appoint court-accredited mediators to help in resolving Civil Suit No. 43/2023, Civil Suit No. 56/2023, among others.
The above cases were brought by Mr. Gidudu Masolo, Mr. Engineer Sakwa, and Mr. Wagabyalire in 2023.
The trio sued the Government of Uganda for gazetting the Umukuka III of the Bamasaaba people.
Hon. Steven Masiga, the spokesperson of the Bugisu cultural institution, told this publication that, for them as a cultural institution, they are always open to dialogue.
“As a cultural institution, we are in agreement with the judiciary’s position on the use of alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, which is fully supported by the Constitution of Uganda in Articles 246(2) and 126 in its entirety, including the Cultural Leaders Act of 2011.”
“We believe, as Bukuka, that ADR helps in resolving disputes and helps us heal quickly as a community. We therefore welcome this initiative by the Principal Judge of the High Court, Her Lordship Hon. Jane Abodo.”
The trio had sued the Attorney General for gazetting the cultural leader of the Bamasaaba people, who was gazetted in 2023 after a cultural dispute over the legitimacy of the candidates had been resolved. After the gazetting of Umukuka III, Jude Mike Mudoma, those who were dissatisfied with the outcome petitioned court, hence the above petitions.
The judiciary is encouraging the resolution of such cultural-related cases through alternative justice systems instead of the adversarial court systems, which normally take a long time to be resolved.
Recently, there was a national summit on ADR held in Munyonyo, where participants from cultural institutions, the judiciary, and religious institutions agreed with the Government in its quest to roll out ADR to quickly resolve some of the disputes tearing communities apart. Major drivers of conflicts in communities include land and leadership positions, among others.
Hon. Steven Masiga says, “We shall also ask the mediators to guide on the tenure of His Highness the Umukuka III, whose reign began in 2023 and is slated to end in 2028. We want mediators to clarify this because some wrong elements are misconstruing the law. We must come out of this with full answers so that we live in harmony as a community.”
From 2020, after the demise of the second cultural leader, Bugisu remained without a cultural leader until 2023, when the Government, using its regulatory role, encouraged those fighting for the leadership of Bukuka to use ADR. Within a period of two weeks, the leadership wrangles had been resolved, and His Highness Mike Mudoma was subsequently gazetted in 2023. He will be marking two years in office by the end of this year and is expected to conclude his five-year term in 2028.
Many experts have applauded ADR as a panacea to community conflicts.
