By Richard Oyel
The judiciary has suspended plans to visit Karamoja following escalation in armed cattle rustling and civilian killings.
The announcement was made by Uganda's Chief Justice Alfonse C. Owinyi-Dollo in an April 1 letter to all regional judicial officers.
Owinyi-Dollo stressed that the current state of insecurity does not give an enabling environment for a judiciary locus exercise to take place.
A locus visit in mediation is the visit to a location of dispute especially in land related cases.
The letter reads in part, "We have received reports of rampant cattle raids and heightened insecurity in Karamoja Sub - Region. Due to this phenomenon, visiting of the locus is suspended until further notice."
The visiting of the locus in Karamoja was intended to verify the land cases in the presence of the court officials, conflicting parties, witnesses and the community. This way, judgement can be passed based on evidence on the ground.
Suspension of the locus visit in Karamoja comes as a setback for a region that has over three hundred cases of land conflict before court.
