Parliament approves new Chief Justice, Deputy

Parliament has approved the newly appointed Chief Justice and the Deputy Chief Justice.

President Museveni recently appointed Justice Owiny-Dollo as the new Chief Justice, whereas Justice Richard Buteera was appointed the new Deputy Chief Justice and their names were forwarded to parliament for approval.

On Wednesday, the two judges interfaced with the parliamentary appointments committee chaired by Speaker Rebecca Kadaga for vetting.

The duo were later approved by parliament but this didn’t come on a silver plate at the committed tasked the Chief Justice to explain his plan to tame the increasing cases of corruption in the judiciary and case backlog.

Speaking to journalists shortly after being approved, Justice Alphonse Owiny-Dollo promised to bring a new era in the judiciary.

“We must begin from the point that corruption is a cancer in this country and justice should never be for sale and this vice should never be left for only the judiciary or Chief Justice,”Dollo said.

“We must all go out as judges, chief magistrates, Chief Justice and all Ugandans and say no to corruption. We should educate our people not to accept to give out money for their file to move from one place to another for a judgment."

Commenting on case backlog, the new Chief Justice attributed it to the limited number of judicial officers that the judiciary currently has.

“Of the 80 Chief Magistrate areas we have in this country, I have only 40 Chief Magistrates. There are Chief Magistrates looking after three areas and plus the new districts we have. There is no way such a person can render justice without creating a backlog.”

Dollo replaces Bart Katureebe who retired early this year after clocking the mandatory age for retirement.