As the legal fraternity marked the 8th Joan Kagezi Memorial Lecture, Principal Judge Jane Frances Abodo used the occasion to call on the government to improve the welfare of retired prosecutors.
Although Abodo acknowledged that the welfare of serving prosecutors has significantly improved in recent years, she noted that retired prosecutors have not benefited from the same reforms.
“Prosecutors who retired before the new reforms are living in poor conditions. It is sad to see the people who came before us suffer. Their welfare should be looked into,” Abodo remarked.
Abodo was delivering the keynote address at the event that capped off the Prosecutors’ Symposium, which has been taking place in Kampala since Monday.
In the same speech, she commended the government for granting tax waivers on prosecutors’ benefits, but also warned prosecutors against engaging in corruption.
“More than three-quarters of prosecutors are doing really well, but for those who are not, it is shameful that while prosecuting corruption, you are practicing the opposite,” Abodo added.
Abodo also emphasized that the work of prosecutors is closely linked to investment and economic growth, noting that many investors assess the rule of law before choosing to invest in Uganda.
“An investor wants to know that if an employee steals from them, there are repercussions. They want assurance that they can be protected from manipulators and people who intend to cheat them,” she said.
The former Director of Public Prosecutions further urged prosecutors to treat all cases equally, regardless of their financial value or emotional weight.
She recounted meeting a woman in a rural area during a holiday upcountry, who owned only two goats. According to Abodo, she saw the woman in the morning taking the goats out for grazing and later in the evening bringing them back home. In her view, those goats represented the woman’s entire livelihood, and if one or both were stolen, such a case deserved the same seriousness as any high-profile theft case.
The 8th Joan Kagezi Memorial Lecture was attended by several high-profile dignitaries from the Justice, Law and Order Sector. Chief Justice Flavian Zeija represented President Yoweri Museveni as the chief guest at the event.
