Several stakeholders including Members of Parliament and Civil Society Organisations(CSO) have reinvigorated efforts to have the National Legal Aid Bill tabled before parliament again.
Despite being introduced to help establish provision of legal aid services to marginalized members of the public, the legal aid bill has on several occasions suffered a still birth.
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On Monday, stakeholders noted that it is high time they worked together to ensure the success of the bill.
"There is no stakeholder we have not been able to reach out on this matter. Here we can disagree but when we go out there lets always speak one language. We need it like yesterday. It talks about probono services, equity, employment, economic development, prison decongestion, equity, legal advice, access to justice, child protection etc. In total, it speaks to everybody,” said Dr. Sylivia Namubiru, the Executive Director of Legal Aid Service Providers Network (LAPSNET).
To this she noted they have organized several meetings with stakeholders to be able to understand the bill in depth.
Bugiri Municipality MP, Asuman Basalirwa, also a member of the parliamentary legal committee noted it is high time all stakeholders spoke the same language on the bill but also it gets support from members of the public.
"We are glad that the stakeholders are now speaking the same language and what we can only commit as Parliament is that when this bill is at the floor of the house or before the committee , we shall give our total cooperation with guidance of other key stakeholders in the country," Basalirwa said.
“The purpose of the bill is to streamline the provision of legal aid services to Ugandans. I am not aware of any Ugandan who doesn’t require legal aid services. However, the current legal regime is not sufficient enough to cover provision of legal aid. It is in that spirit the 11th parliament have taken over the bill .We want to build consensus to have legal aid in this country. Every corner and sector of this country needs legal aid. We have legal aid service providers but they are not streamlined, not very structured and not very national. The coming of this bill will ensure it is covered nationwide; the providers are known, accredited and given protection.”
Making a case for the law, the Bugiri Municipality MP said it is high time all members of the public supported it.
“The law is timely and we invite public to support MPs in this endeavor .We also call on government to parent with us to get law on legal aid services. It is in line with government aspirations and objectives in the national development programs and other structural policies.”
The Uganda Law Society vice president, Diana Angwech also rallied support for the law.
"At the point of going to committee we can present data to show government that legal aid touches more than access to justice because it touches other sectors like security and economic development. Let us streamline the information and show government that it is their mandate to provide legal aid."
Former MP Lyandro Komakech who earlier moved the bill in the 9th Parliament emphasized that it is needed like yesterday by the country.
He said that it would help reduced on the number of prisoners on remand but also save government on money spent on feeding these inmates.
