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Is mediation programme backfiring on the judiciary?

Written by Derrick Kiyonga
Created:04May2016

Mediationisanalternativedisputeresolutionmechanismthatallowspartiesentangledinadisputefindaquicksolutionwiththeassistan

This process avoids the costly and lengthy court process.The traditional adversarial adjudicatory system has long dominated socie
disputesbuttheintroductionofmediationin2013wasexpectedtohelpinswiftlysettlingcases.Itisnowthreeyearsafteritwasrolledo
magistrate'scourtsthatdealincivilcases.

However,itscriticssaythatitwaskneejerkreactiontothehugecasebackloghenceitwasboundtofail.Inthefirstoftwopartseriescri
DERRICKKIYONGAdetailshowpoorfundingandalackofcommitmentfromstakeholdershavederailedtheprogramme.

When asked about mediation, Principal Judge Yorokamu Bamwine gives the impression that it is the best policy to have been ins
independence.

Mediationisthebestbecauseitleadstoreconciliationbetweenwarringparties.Unliketheadversarialsystemwherethewinnertakes
majoraimofjusticeistopromotereconciliationandthatswhatmediationdoes,hesays.

Asked about the same, Justice David Wangutusi, the chairperson of theAlternative Dispute Resolution project advisory board, uses
mediation.ThecandidWangutusicitesMatthew5:25,whichstates:settlemattersquicklywithyouradversarywhoistakingyoutocourt
theway,oryouradversarymayhandyouovertothejudge,andthejudgemayhandyouovertotheofficer,andyoumaybethrownintop

Itisclear,mediationisrootedinhumanity.ItsbackedupbyChristianityandalsoIslam.Ontopofthat,itisnotascostlyastheconve
says.

Quickly,thejudgethrowsinanAfrocentricperspectiveofmediation.Whatwearedoinginmediationiswhatourancestorsusedtodob
courtsystemwehavenow.Whenevertheyhadadispute,theywouldseataroundapotofMalwa[localbrew]andtalkaboutitandatth
becausethematterwouldhavebeensettled.

Though the judges are waxing lyrical about mediation, some people from whom they derive their powers as per article 126 of the
enthusiasm.

Youaretalkingaboutmediation?Itsajoke,EdwardSekyewasaysasheisseatedneartheHighcourtcivildivisionregistry,Actually
nottakenseriously,moresobytheAttorneyGeneral.
TheUgandaComercialcourtbuildinginKampala

Sekyewasdisdaintowardsmediationstemsfroma2013suitheinstitutedagainstgovernmentinwhichhewasaccusingittofailingtof
Act2002.

Sekyewa,whoworkswiththeHubforInvestigativeMedia,wantedcourttocompelgovernmenttomakeitpossibleforthepublictoac
declarationssubmittedbyleaders.
IGGAFRAID

Back then, through the Centre for LegalAid, Sekyewa said that he had sought to access the contents of the wealth declarations
InspectorateofGovernmentwhileworkingwiththeKampalaDispatchmagazineinearly2013buthisrequestwasturneddown.

HestatesthatIreneMulyagonja,theInspectorGeneralofGovernment(IGG),ruledthattheAccesstoInformationAct2005couldnotbe
wealthdeclarations.SherejectedhisrequestongroundsthattherewasnomechanisminforceundertheLeadershipCodeActtocomp
thepublic.
TheIGGtoldmeshewasafraidofbeingsuedbythepermanentsecretariesifshedeclaredtheirrecordedwealth,Sekyewasays.

wassubstantivelyheard,itwouldhavebeendetermined.
Withthecaseyettogetahearingdate,Sekyewaisoftheviewthathisendeavortoexposecorruptionhasbeenfoiled.

AsaresultoftheIGGsfailuretogivemeinformationIrequestedfor,Iwasunabletocompleteacommissionedinvestigativejournal
improprietybycertainpermanentsecretarieswhoseministrieswereinthespotlightforgrandcorruption,heasserts.

WhileSekyewaisstilllickinghiswounds,spareathoughtforRashidKigemuzi,whoin2014draggedthegovernmentandUmemetoth
inwhichthepowerdistributioncompanygotitsconcessionin2004.
KigemuziclaimedthatonNovember26,2006,thegovernmentandUmeme,throughsomeprominentpersons,illegallyandfraudulentl
centto38percent,forpurposesofcompensation.
ThroughBalondemu,Candia&WanderaAdvocates,Kigemuziclaimedthatsince2004,Umemehadfalsifieditslevelsofinvestment
thatUmemeclaimedtohaveinvestedShs32bn,yettherealinvestmenthasnotexceededShs16bn.

Theplaintiff[Kigemuzi]shallcontendthattheconcessionagreementiscontrarytopublicpolicyasfarasitinhibitsgovernmentsrightto
governmentliabletocompensateUmemeforitsowndefault.Anditalsoerodesgovernmentsqualifiedandabsolutesovereigntyoverna

Immediatelyafterfilingthesuit,KigemuzislawyersfiledmediationproposalintheHighcourt,indicatingtheywerewillingtosettlethem
thegovernmentandUmemeareyettorespondwiththeirownmediationproposals.SomuchhaschangedsinceKigemuzifiledhiscase

JusticeElizabethMusoke,whoinitiallywashandlingit,waspromotedtotheCourtofAppealin2015andthecasewasreallocatedtoJ
Kigemuzislawyer,AlexCandia,mediationisnowexacerbatingthealreadyhugebacklogofcasescloggingthejudicialsystem.

Casesarenotbeingheardattherateatwhichtheywouldhavebeenheardbecausetheymustgothroughmediation.Nowthiscase
andnohearinghasevertakenplace.Whyissuchanimportantmatternotgivenpreference?Candiawondered.

OriginallypilotedintheCommercialcourtintheearly2000s,mediationwasin2013rolledouttotheotherHighcourtdivisionsofCivil,F
Thoughthepolicywasostensiblyintroducedtoreduceonthecasebacklog,thejudiciaryhasatotalof114,512pendingcaseswhere
pileup.

Indeed,recordsattheHighcourtofNakawashowthatwhereastherearemorethan1,000casespendingmediation,thereisonlyone

fromasfarasEntebbe,KibogaandMityana.TherewereoriginallythreemediatorsbuttworesignedlastyearandAmosKwizera,theNa
reportcomplainingaboutthewholemediationprocess.

Withonemediator,wecannotdoalotofworkbecausenowmediationislefttotheregistrarandthejudge,whocannotmediateev
facilitated.Thatswhymediatorsrunaway,Kwizerasaid.
AlliInnocentBalupe,whoresignedasmediatorofNakawacourtlastyear,saidtheprogrammewasmakinghimbroke.

Wewerenotgivenanymoney.Ihadtousemyownairtime,fuel,food.So,Ihadtousemymoneytosupportawholebranchofgover
tenable,hesaid.
AccordingtoBalupe,thoughhewastrainedwithmanyotherlawyersinmediationbythejudiciaryin2014,fewarepracticingit.

Theprincipaljudge[Bamwine]gaveuscertificatesbutIthinkbecauseoftheworkconditions,noneofthepeoplewithwhomwetrain
easytobalanceitwithprivatepractice,hesaid.
ApartnerwithKandiaandAllisolicitors,Balupeiscriticalofthetimemediatorsaregiventohandlecases.

Weweretoldtogivemediationsixhoursaweek.Thattimecannotbeenoughwhenyoucompareitwithnumberofmediationfiles.Re
filedandtheymustgothroughmediation.So,howcanyoudoallofthatwithinsixhours?heasked.

Meanwhile, the civil division of the High court has more than 900 pending cases but has only four mediators of which two were jus
mediators,mostofthecasesfromthecivildivisionareallocatedtoJusticeBamwinetomediate,athingsomelawyersquestion.

Theprincipaljudge[Bamwine]nowadaysneverhearscases,saysprominentcitylawyerCalebAlaka.Actually,Idontrecallthelasttim
istomediateallbigcasesfromthecivildivision.Wewantcourttoknowthecriteriausedtoallocatehimallthesecases.

Most people come here [for mediation] because it is mandatory but they prefer the judge to resolve the matter than settling it ou

sensitization,shesaid.Evenifthenumberofmediatorsisincreased,Banisterassertsthatnotmanycaseswillbemediatedpartlybeca
formediation.

UnliketheCommercialcourt,wedonthaveafullyfledgedregistry[specificallyformediation].So,evenifwegetmanymediators,they
sametimebecauseoflimitedspace,shesaid.

ThesituationisworseintheLanddivision,wherethereisnomediationstatisticscompiledthoughtheprogrammehasbeeninplacefor

Wejuststartedrecentlytocompilethem[statistics].So,asofnow,wedontknowhowmanycasesweresettledthroughmediationan
you,amediationclerktoldTheObserver.
MargaretMutonyi,theGuluresidentjudge,admittedthatthereisnomediationgoingoninGuluduetothescarcityofmediators.

IwouldhavemediatedsomeofthecasesbutIcannotdoitsinceImtheonlyjudgehereeversinceJusticeEudesJohnKeitirimawastr

allowajudgewhohasmediatedacasetoagainhandlethetrialifitwasntsuccessfullymediated,JusticeMutonyisaysthesamesituat
Arua,Mbale,Masaka,LuweeroandMasaka.
PINGPONG
MediationmightbeapermanentfixtureincourtbutJusticeBamwineadmitteditisyettosucceedbecausegovernmenthasrefusedtofu

NowIunderstandwhy,beforegovernmentputsinplaceacertainproject,itneedsacertificateoffinancialimplicationbecausewedont
hesaid.ActuallyImtoldthatatthecivildivision[Highcourt]theyhaveonlyonemediator.

Askedhowmuchthejudiciarywouldneedtosuccessfullyimplementtheprogramme,JusticeBamwineputthefigureatShs5billionper

Weneedtotrainmoremediators,sensitizethepublicandalsobuildseparatemediationcentres.Todoallofthat,weneedasubstan
currentlydonthave,hesaid.

However,LegalBrainsTrust(LBT)CEOIsaacKimazeSsemakaddesquarelyattributesjudiciarysbrokennesstotheinstitutionsleaders
parliamenttopasstheJudiciaryAdministrativeBillintolaw.

The chief justice [Bart Katureebe] was part of them [executive] since he was an attorney general in this very regime. So, there is n

approachwhenconfrontingtheestablishmentwhichhewaspartof.Theleadershipofthejudiciaryisofconformists,notreformers,Ssem

Actually, he insists that the absence of the JudiciaryAdministrationAct is in violation of article 128 of the constitution which stipula

accountingandmaydealdirectlywiththeministryoffinance.Hesaysthatthejudiciaryhasfailedtoborrowaleaffromparliament,wh
aftertheconstitutionwasinstituted21yearsago.

Aswetalknow,thejudiciaryhasnocontroloveritsresourcesastheconstitutionprovides.Thoughitsawholearmofgovernment,itis

LawandOrderSector[JLOS],hesays.Indeed,Shs98billionwasallocatedtothejudiciaryinthefinancialyear2015/2016ofwhic
benefitsofretiredjudges.

Beforerollingoutmediationtoothercourts,theyshouldhaveknownbetterthattheydonthavecapacitytoimplementitwithoutfunds.T
studies,Ssemakaddeadds.
dkiyonga@observer.ug(mailto:dkiyonga@observer.ug)
ThisstorywasdonewiththesupportofareportinggrantfromtheAfricanCentreforMediaExcellence(ACME)
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#1(/newsheadlines/44061ismediationprogrammebackfiringonthejudiciary#comment149035)WADADArogers 201605
Icanconfirmthatmediationisnotworking,infactforevery100cases,itsonlytwothatmaybecompletedatmediationyetitiscomp
throughmediationbeforetrial.
Initially,theperiodusedtobetwomonthswithinwhichmediationhadtobeconcluded,thesedaysitsthreemonths.

Thiscontenthasbeenlocked.Youcannolongerpostanycomment.