By Soloon Muyita
Oct 31, 2004
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KAMPALA - The Chief Justice, Mr Benjamin Odoki, yesterday said that the Judiciary is ready for any probe that would be instituted against the body. He however warned that government has to be very careful with the way it is to conduct the Commission of Inquiry in the Judiciary and have it in mind that �judges can also defend themselves�. �You can hold a probe, but should it be on the Judiciary? I think it should be a general inquiry about the administration of justice in the country,� Odoki said, while presiding over a Kampala Rotary Club�s weekly fellowship at the Grand Imperial Hotel in Kampala. President Yoweri Museveni recently said during a live interview on 93.3 K-FM that he would soon announce a judicial commission of inquiry into the Judiciary because of �an outcry outside there� against the body. Museveni and other government officials have on several occasions accused judges of being biased and corrupt. The president said the Commission would comprise non-Ugandan commonwealth judges, whom he described as neutral. �Their task will be to hear the suffering and complaints of the people against the judiciary,� he said. Odoki said, �We shall listen to whatever they want to say to us and respond accordingly�. He however said, the common castigation of judges by the executive was more of intimidation but his body is not �capable of being intimidated�. He said any inquiry against the body �has to be conducted by peers�, giving an example of the Kenyan judges who were accused of corruption and a probe set up. Odoki said one of the judges who was highly accused of corruption ended up being acquitted. �Each organ of government should respect the other. You can�t say I am corrupt when you cannot prove it,� he said. Odoki, who described himself as a liberal, however, said criticism of his body is healthy. �The problem is only with the degree of criticism and the politics undermining the independence of the judiciary and the rule of law. It is only dictators who are not amused by the concept of rule of law.� The Chief Justice described the Uganda Judiciary an one of the best performing institutions in Africa in terms of independence and quality performance. �So many people, especially chief justices of other countries are fighting to see what is happening here,� he said. Odoki said judges cannot be taken to Court for mistakes made while dispensing their duties. He said accountability for their actions are the reasons they give for whatever judgements they pass and always advise aggrieved parties to appeal in higher courts. �The judiciary has to be more independent of the two because it stands between power and liberty of individuals and the two arms of government. Tension always comes because of this, but it is normal for me. |
� 2004 The Monitor Publications
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