Judiciary grappling with pending cases valued at sh25.53 trillion
The revelation came to light on Wednesday, August 12, 2026, during a meeting between Members of Parliament (MPs) on the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee, chaired by John Teira (Bugabula North, NRM), and a Judiciary delegation comprising under-secretary Maureen Kasande and chief registrar Agnes Alum.
Chairperson of the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee, John Teira, MP for Bugabula County North, and his deputy, Edward Otto Makmot, MP for Agago County. (Photo by Maria Wamala)
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The Judiciary is grappling with a high volume of pending cases collectively valued at sh25.539 trillion, lawmakers have learnt.
The revelation came to light on Wednesday, August 12, 2026, during a meeting between Members of Parliament (MPs) on the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee, chaired by John Teira (Bugabula North, NRM), and a Judiciary delegation comprising under-secretary Maureen Kasande and chief registrar Agnes Alum.
A breakdown seen by New Vision shows that civil cases account for sh10.634 trillion, commercial cases for sh2.14 trillion, land cases for sh2.983 trillion and family cases for sh9.79 trillion.
“Delays in resolving these matters directly affect investment and productivity,” Kasande regretted.
Comparatively, the statistics show that in the 2025/26 financial year, civil cases worth sh996.986 billion were completed, while family cases accounted for sh9.59 trillion and small claims sh20.426 billion, among others, bringing the total value of completed cases to sh22.133 trillion.
Furthermore, documents show that at the end of the 2025/26 financial year, the Judiciary had 207,839 pending cases, including 53,847 backlog cases.
The Supreme Court recorded 1,139 pending cases, of which 601 were backlog cases. The Court of Appeal and Constitutional Court had 14,682 pending cases, including 8,745 backlog cases.
The High Court circuits recorded the largest volume of backlog cases, at 22,615.
MPs concerned
Reacting to the figures, committee chairperson John Teira was left questioning what could be holding the Judiciary back, given that its budget had been increased to sh479.32 billion in the 2025/26 financial year.
“We have raised the case of other state players like the state attorneys. In Kamuli, where I come from until recently, we had one state attorney with three magistrates. All the other court premises had to come to a standstill, waiting for one state attorney to leave one court premise and go to another. Until recently, when we had a second one. But remember Kamuli is handling Kamuli district and Buyende,” he added.
On his part, Patrick Kitiyo (Kapchorwa Municipality) called upon the Judiciary to scale up access by establishing courts in all districts that make up Uganda.
Patrick Kitiyo (Kapchorwa Municipality). (Credit: Maria Wamala)
“I come from Kapchorwa, Sebei region, now with a total population of over 500,000 people. We have a chief magistrate sitting at Kapchorwa, a magistrate's court in Bukwo. But in Kween there is no operating magistrate’s court. That is where my interest is,” Kitiyo noted.
He said that at the moment, they rely on the High Court in Mbale. However, on too many occasions, his Kalenjin kin are faced with a language barrier.
Given the committee's busy schedule, the chairperson said he would invite the Judiciary back specifically to answer these pertinent concerns.