By Weswa Ronnie
MBALE CITY
The Court of Appeal is sitting at Mbale High Court for two days, starting today, Monday, 12th October to handle all pending cases that have stayed in court for long in the Eastern region.
The session is being led by Justice Christopher Gashirabake, assisted by Hon. Lady Justice Margaret Tibulya and Lady Justice Cornelia Kakooza Sabiiti.
While speaking to stakeholders during the opening of the session on Monday morning, Moses Kazibwe Kawumi, the Deputy Chief Justice, said that the Court of Appeal has over 14,000 pending cases countrywide.
He said there are many factors that have led to the high number of pending cases, such as understaffing at the Judiciary, police taking long to conduct investigations in some cases, and weaknesses of some judges, among other factors.
Kazibwe said they have decided to bring Court of Appeal judges to handle all 30 pending civil cases from the Bugisu region at Mbale High Court as a way of reducing the backlog and extending services closer to the people.
He adds that judiciary has got land in Mbale City and is planning to construct Court of Appeal branch for eastern region in Mbale city to handle the issue of case backlog and extending services nearer to people.
George Mwanika, the Mayor of Northern City Division in Mbale City, said that Mbale City filed a case at the Court of Appeal in 2021 when a politician, whose name he did not mention, wanted to grab public land located near Mbale City Magistrate’s Court, but they have failed to get justice.
He expressed happiness with the Court of Appeal for bringing services to Mbale High Court for two days, saying Mbale City is now going to get justice.
Swale Wanyeze, a resident from Manafwa District, expressed happiness with the court, saying they have been traveling to Kampala to get justice, which is far and hard to reach.
