Court Clerks in the Kigezi region have been accused of corruption and hiding files.
This was during the Judicial Open Day on Tuesday held at Kabale High Court. The open day was organized under the theme: “Enhancing Judicial Accountability and Access to Justice”.
Ronald Bakak, Kabale Deputy Resident District Commissioner raised a red flag about corruption among court clerks describing it as beyond control. Bakak says that on a weekly basis, he registers about 15 complaints of people accusing court clerks of demanding bribes worth 500,000 Shillings to either register cases or aid in releasing suspects on bail.
Bakak also said that he recently registered a complaint where a suspect was on remand for a month because the file was missing. Bakak however said that he was surprised when the file was recovered by one of the court clerks shortly after he protested to the Chief Magistrate.
Enock Emmanuel Turyajunwa says that his brother was remanded to Ndorwa Prison in 2019 and his file has never been returned to court.
Fiona Kemigisha, a resident of Butanda sub-county in Kabale District, says that her land case started in 2014, but in 2021, she was told that the file was missing. Kemigisha also explains that she thought of giving up on the case when he was told by a court clerk to pay 100,000 shillings for her file to be traced.
Justus Muhangi, the representative of lawyers in the Kigezi region says that such vices frustrate their clients and also delay justice.
The Principal Judge, Justice Dr. Flavian Zeija who was the chief guest at the event paraded all the court clerks and asked complainants to identify the clerks accused of hiding files.
However, some of the complainants said that they fear since they still have cases before the court.
Zeija castigated them for not naming and shaming the clerks.
When approached about the allegations, the clerks declined to comment.
According to records, Kabale High Court is so far handling 587 cases.
URN.