The Principal Judge, Hon. Justice Dr. Yorokamu Bamwine has allocated to Justice Dr. Henry Peter Adonyo a case involving an elderly man who was reportedly evicted forcefully from his land in 2011.
Hon. Justice Dr. Bamwine regretted that the “partly heard land case” (HCCS No. 482 of 2011-Prince Kefa Wasswa & another Vs Joseph Kiyimba) had suffered numerous adjournments. He directed the new trial judge to “fast track its disposal on account of its age in the system”.
Hon. Justice Dr. Adonyo, a High Court Judge, who heads the Judicial Studies Institute at Nakawa – Kampala, has confirmed that he directed the Land Division deputy registrar to summon the parties for the hearing of the matter next week.
Earlier this week, the media has been awash with a story: “Justice delayed is justice denied” – relating to the land eviction victim whose case has been in the court system since December 2011.
Mzee Kefa’s sympathizers took to social media after getting reports that Hon. Lady Justice Ketra Katunguka – the fourth judge to handle Mzee Kefa’s case – had also been transferred to another court before concluding the matter.
“Hon. Lady Justice Katunguka to whom the file had been re-allocated has been transferred to the Family Division,”the Principal Judge’s memo to Hon. Justice Adonyo read in part.
In March this year, the Case Backlog Reduction and Elimination Committee Report established that there were 37,827 backlogged cases in the court system. The Committee, among others, called for quick clearance of the backlogged cases to restore public confidence in the administration of justice.
In April, the Chief Justice, Hon.Justice Bart M. Katureebe, appointed a 12-member Case Backlog Monitoring Committee headed by Court of Appeal’s Hon. Justice Richard Buteera to oversee Judiciary’s case backlog strategy.
