Government has denied any interference with the Executive after the judiciary released a report indicating they were being intimidated and their work interfered with by the state.
In a report on the state of the judiciary released by chief justice Bart Katureebe this morning in Kampala, the judiciary decries lack of enough man power to handle the too many cases in different parts of the country.
He said they are being treated as a department rather than an arm of government. The chief Justice wondered why it is so easy to increase the number of MPs and not judges.
“Why is it so easy to increase the number of MPs and districts but we can't increase judges from 50 to the 80 we need?” Katureebe wondered.
He also argued that Judiciary is the least funded of all arms of government making delivery of justice hard, before claiming they are undermined by the state.
“The Executive's outright defiance of court orders undermines the power of the judiciary.”
However, government spokesperson Ofwono Opondo argues that for the judiciary to say they have succumbed to intimidation, that is to say they are not capable of doing their work.
He demanded for evidence pinning any government officials or entities of intimidation. “We would like judges to table evidence of where they have been intimidated publicly; if they don't give that evidence really....they are letting down the public.”
On the recruitment of High Court judges, Opondo says that according to the constitution, the Judicial Service commission forwards names to the President and that for the past 2years of appointments the President has been positive to names forwarded by judicial commission.
“The Judicial Service commission forwards names to the President for the past 2years of appointments the President has been positive to names forwarded by Judicial service commission neither has he smuggled in any officials (judges) name.”
