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--- Begin Message ---15th July 2004.
Mutale starts parallel court
By Halima Abdallah
WEEKLY OBSERVERMaj. Roland Kakooza Mutale is only two months old in office since he was re-instated by court as presidential advisor on political affairs. But he is already back in the news, as usual, for the wrong reasons. Kampala lawyers charge that Mutale is operating a parallel �court� in his Bombo Road office, contrary to the law.
Several lawyers have had to appear before the �court�, which some prefer to call a �thing�, to defend their clients against different charges. It is not clear when the �court� started, but the lawyers say it sits whenever there are cases to hear. Lt. Kasumba of the Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence reportedly presides over the hearings.
A lawyer who prefers not to be named said his client was arrested and accused before the �court� of being indebted to another party. �It is just a thing. There is no charge sheet; you are arrested and taken there for trial. It is hopeless. You are forced to accept your crime or reach reconciliation. It is more like a safe house, you can be tried for anything,� said the lawyer.
Another lawyer said, �it is something that you cannot describe as a court but the way it works tells you so�. This lawyer first entered the �courtroom� when men who introduced themselves as being from Maj. Mutale�s office arrested his client in Mukono.
No formal charges were read to the accused but something in between investigations and trial followed. The lawyer objected because the case was already before the High Court.
The advocates have been summoned to appear before the �court� again because their clients� cases have not been resolved, but the President of the Uganda Law Society, Mr Moses Adriko, said he has stopped them from re-appearing until government comes clean on the matter.
Adriko acted after the lawyers complained to his office about the �court�.
He said Mutale�s �court� is illegal and has no binding effect because it is not established by law. Adriko added that the procedures used there in are questionable.�Forcing suspects to accept or reach a reconciliation is coercion. Who gives them powers to arrest and prosecute?� Adriko asked. Adriko said the Uganda Law Society would visit the �court� to see how it conducts its business, and then write to President Museveni, the Chief Justice and the Minister of Justice.
He advised the President�s Office to refer all cases to the courts of law or the Centre for Arbitration and Dispute Resolution (CADER). However, Mutale�s office denied that it runs a parallel court.
�There is no court in that office. We have an office where people complaining about land report,� Mutale�s aide, Mr Amooti Kiiza said.
Kiiza explained that people who feel aggrieved by the courts on issues of land write to the President about their complaints, which they handle because their office falls under the President�s Office.�Some people get disappointed from the courts. You know what happens in the Uganda courts. Sometimes they go to CADER and get disappointed. Ours is the last solution,� Kiiza said.
Kiiza also denied that suspects are coerced. He said they simply look into available documents and involve LCs, especially in cases where there are agreements.
A legal officer in the �court�, Mr David Omamteker, defended the legality of what he preferred to call an �arbitration centre�. He said what they do falls under the conflict resolution department in the President�s Office, which handles many land and family cases. Omamteker agreed with Kiiza that they act on complaints directed to the President.
�We investigate, call parties and try to resolve their problems,� he said.
When parties fail to agree, Omamteker said, they refer them to the courts of law.Asked why they are doing CADER�s job, Omamteker said: �They [complainants] saw us as the people who are balanced. We see that the process of justice is followed,� he said. Omamteker, however, said that the arbitration centre does not enforce its decisions.
He explained that they effect arrests on parties who fail to co-operate, detain them at the Central Police Station in Kampala and later on charge them.
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