Appellate court starts three-day session to clear case backlog

 ________________   

The Court of Appeal has commenced a three-day weed-out session to handle long-pending criminal appeals to clear case backlog.

The session, sitting in Kampala city, started on May 5, 2026, and will run until May 7, with a 66 matters lined up for hearing.

The proceedings are being presided over by justices Irene Mulyagonja, Moses Kazibwe Kawumi and Musa Ssekaana.

According to the cause list signed by the Court of Appeal registrar, Allen Rukundo Owembabazi, aggravated defilement constitutes the highest number of appeals at 16.

Murder cases follow at 14, while six appeals relate to obtaining money by false pretence.

Manslaughter accounts for five appeals, while aggravated robbery and embezzlement have four cases each. Forgery, theft of a motor vehicle and causing grievous harm have two appeals each.

Other offences with one appeal each include rape, trafficking in children, possession of classified drugs, abuse of office, simple robbery, corrupt solicitation and making false entries.

Representatives from the Uganda Prisons Service, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and defence lawyers are attending the session.

The Judiciary states that the exercise is part of the court’s efforts to reduce case backlog and improve the timely delivery of justice by streamlining its docket and clearing cases that cannot proceed.

According to the 2025 Judiciary National Court Case Census Report, the Judiciary is currently handling more than 167,353 cases. However, delayed delivery of judgments remains a major challenge.