Uganda’s Religious Leaders Raise Concerns over Corruption in Judiciary, Call for Reforms

“We see a lot of conspiracy and connivance, especially when the courts handle cases related to land belonging to religious institutions,” the Catholic Archbishop of Kampala, Cyprian Kizito Lwanga said and added, “We have lost the majority of these cases because of this connivance.”

Responding to the concerns, which IRCU representatives raised, Uganda’s Chief Justice urged the faith leaders not to hesitate reporting incidences of corruption for action, noting that most of the allegations are usually not supported by evidence, making it hard for any prosecution.

“We really urge you men of God to be our eyes and ears out there. We’ll achieve a lot if well-meaning members of the public give us credible information about incidents of corruption,” Chief Justice Owiny-Dollo said.

The Chief Justice’s sentiments were echoed by Principal Judge, Flavian Zeija who told the religious leaders, “You should be our eyes. Record some of these elements and give us the evidence. We shall not hesitate to act.”

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On corruption relating to bail applications, Judge Zeija informed the representatives of the seven-member forum for religious leaders in Uganda that the Judiciary’s Legal Reform Committee is working on developing guidelines to aid the bail application process.

“For a long time, discretion has been sitting with the individual judicial officers, but we’ll soon have this process guided,” he noted referencing the bail application process.

To aid in the reduction of the backlog of court cases, the religious leaders pledged to work hand-in-hand with the Judiciary in the area of mediation, a move welcomed by the Chief Justice who said that the judiciary would be happy to facilitate training members of the Clergy in that area.

“You could really assist us in some of these matters, say family matters, divorce, land disputes and others,” he said referencing the IRCU representatives' offer to assist in mediation.

During the November 9 meeting, the religious leaders among them representatives of Uganda Episcopal Conference (UEC) hailed the judiciary leadership for adopting the use of digital information technology, which they noted has aided the delivery of justice during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The religious leaders and the judiciary officials agreed to hold similar meetings on a regular basis.

Established in 2001, the mission of IRCU is to promote peace, reconciliation, good governance, and holistic human development through interfaith action and collaboration, advocating for the empowerment of member bodies for the common good.