Under the mango tree: Rethinking justice through ADR

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OPINION

By Kato Mpanga

According to the Judiciary’s Annual Performance Reports, Uganda’s justice system continues to struggle with case backlog. In 2021/2022, over 50,000 cases remained unresolved. By June 2023, the situation had hardly improved, with 42,960 cases still stuck in the backlog. These statistics demonstrate the need to embrace Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) for a more accessible path to justice.

ADR refers to other ways of resolving disputes, except going to court. These include mediation, conciliation, negotiation, and arbitration, among others.

In this article, I am going to tell you a story about ADR, after which I will highlight its benefits and limitations in Uganda. Thereafter, I will conclude.

In the days when land was still measured by footsteps and not by surveyors, two brothers, Ssebadduka and Mugisha, once inseparable, stopped speaking.

Their father’s land, rich, red, and full of memories, had become a battlefield. Not over money, but pride. Each claimed the larger mango tree, as if it could somehow prove who was more loved.

They went to court. Years passed. The file grew fat. The land lay silent. Their mother died with a broken heart, longing for peace between her sons. Their children grew up as strangers. The mangoes stopped falling.

Then came Jjajja Kaggwa, a retired judge, now a humble village mediator with no clerks, no chambers, just a walking stick, a folding chair, and wisdom sharper than cross-examination.

He invited them to sit beneath the very tree they once fought over. No robes. No judgments. Just roasted groundnuts, a shared mat, and an open heart.

“What’s the value of a title,” he asked gently, “if it costs you your blood?”

They laughed, softly, bitterly. Then tears followed. Words, long buried, rose again.

By the third sitting, peace found them. The land was shared. Their children played together for the first time. The mangoes returned, as if the tree itself had forgiven them.

But even Jjajja Kaggwa knew, some wounds need the courtroom. For capital offences, the law must speak loudly and clearly.

But still, for many civil conflicts across Uganda, ADR brings what courtrooms often cannot: reconciliation, dignity, and justice rooted in community.

There are many benefits to ADR. Firstly, for instance in mediation, parties stay in control of resolving their dispute. Parties can choose the terms, timelines, and the scope. According to the Uganda Judiciary Annual Performance Report 2023/24, the small claims procedure, introduced under the Judicature (Small Claims Procedure) Rules, 2011; which typically helps parties to resolve disputes of up to sh10 million without necessarily involving lawyers; 23,567 cases were resolved and over 17.99 billion shillings was recovered for claimants.

These numbers remind us that when people are trusted to lead their own justice, they do not just resolve disputes, they reclaim power, dignity, and peace on their own terms.

Secondly, by using ADR to resolve disputes, bonds are rebuilt, not broken. As highlighted in the Justice Needs and Satisfaction in Uganda 2020 report, less than 5% of disputes in Uganda are resolved in formal courts with most people preferring informal ways of resolving disputes through engaging family members, Local Councils, the other parties, or using ADR mechanisms. This shows that for most Ugandans, justice is not about defeating each other, but finding healing together.

Thirdly, ADR generally helps to resolve disputes quicker. According to the Annual Report of Uganda’s Commercial Court Division, court directed mediation registered in 2013 had an overall workload of 623. Out of these, 383 cases were finalized which is a disposal rate of 60.7%. These outcomes show that ADR offers a faster and more efficient route to justice, helping ease court backlogs and resolve disputes.

However, in Uganda, criminal cases (except some minor offences) are outside ADR’s scope because they require state led prosecution and formal sentencing. Nevertheless, according to the Uganda Judiciary Annual Performance Report 2023/24, 6,408 criminal cases were resolved through plea bargaining, an ADR like legal process where an accused person voluntarily agrees to plead guilty to a criminal charge in exchange for a lesser sentence, reduced charges, or a faster resolution. This shows that even in criminal justice, there’s room for mercy, healing, and second chances; proof that ADR like mechanisms can help to restore justice, and not just punish.

In conclusion, under the mango tree, Ssebadduka and Mugisha found what many Ugandans still seek, justice that heals, and restores. Their story is not just folklore; it mirrors the very strengths of ADR. It’s faster, more accessible, community-rooted, and focused on rebuilding rather than breaking relationships.

As Uganda faces growing case backlogs, ADR offers a practical and people-centred solution. It’s time we took it seriously, because sometimes, under a mango tree, justice finds its truest voice.

The writer is a Solicitor of the Senior Courts of England and Wales

katompanga@yahoo.com


@KatoMpanga