Revamp local council courts - Bushenyi leaders

Bushenyi District leaders have called for revamping of local council courts to boost their efficiency.

Legal experts say a significant number of individuals are grappling with poverty due to their lack of awareness regarding their legal rights, underscoring the necessity to empower the LC1 courts.

During a meeting with Local Council 1 chairpersons in Bushenyi on Sunday, it was observed that some are ignorant about the rights of their people.

This, they say, is fueling crime and causing a backlog at the different police stations, thus eroding public trust.

Jean Nayebare, the LC1 chairperson for Butare trading centre, said they have not had local council courts function as they should because "we have actually been neglected and I can’t deny that most of us don’t know how to use the LC1 courts”.

According to Mubarak Macho, a legal expert and the founder of the Community Justice and Anticorruption Forum, “many individuals stay impoverished due to lack of awareness about their legal entitlements, leading to corrupt practices and hindering access to judicial remedies”.

Macho highlights the need for government empowering LC1s with understanding and implementing local council Act, revitalizing LC courts to ensure those under leadership know their rights.

“The LC1 chairpersons need to know and understand the Local Council Aourts Act so that they are not challenged in the high court or the magistrate’s court and that way we shall be improving access to justice in our communities,” Macho said.

“We still have challenges of corruption, and technical know who and this has failed some of the government programs leaving our people still poor because they don’t know their rights and that affects us as local leaders,” added Ashiraf Kalungi, the lc1 chairman Butare cell.

Dan Nimwesiga, Igara West MP aspirant said, said LC1 are compromised and the common man ends up losing property and cases so it is high time government stepped up to strengthen the courts.

"If need be, take these leaders to Kyankwanzi [for civic education] otherwise many of them are ignorant of the law and rights,” he added.

Bushenyi has been facing a surge in criminal activities ranging from instances of domestic violence and murder to cases of land grabbing.

In order to facilitate a more comprehensive comprehension of legal entitlements, a complimentary legal assistance bureau has been established in Burare.

The 2006 Local Council Courts Act led to formation of Local Council Courts in Uganda at the village (LC1), parish (LC2), town (LC3), division (LC4) and sub-county (LC5) level.

The Ministry of Local Government oversees the functioning of Local Council Courts.