Foreign judges to probe Judiciary

By Vision ReportersPRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni has said he intends to appoint a Judicial Commission of Inquiry into the Judiciary.Museveni said this yesterday while meeting the parliamentary probe committee on election violence at the State House, Nakasero.In his statement to the committee, Museveni said judges and magistrates were biased. He said some of the decisions by the judges were amazing.“I intend to appoint a Judicial Commission of Inquiry into the Judiciary itself, maybe using judges from outside to uncover the corruption and unprofessional conduct of that branch of the State,” he said.He gave six conditions that could cause election violence, weak laws and election procedures and weak implementation bodies in case the law is right.Others are deliberate incitement and cover-up by those in authority if both the laws and enforcement mechanisms are correct and effective and biased election officers.On partisan state officials, Museveni said the NRM was a peasant Movement with few intellectuals.“We did not have many intellectuals to man the administrative and technocratic echelons of the State. We had to rely on the ones that had been serving Amin, Obote etc.”“Some are good and professional. Others are completely unprofessional. They are biased and oppose the patriotic changes that have taken place in Uganda since 1986. Some of them man the electoral process like registering voters, display of registers, distribution of voters’ cards and supervising polling day activities,” he said.He added, “Among the biased, unprofessional state officials are the judges and magistrates. Many of them are anti-NRM because it is a new force, fighting the old sectarian politics and management.”He said citizens were crying because of the bad combination between the Judiciary and the Police. “When it comes to election problems, they excel in showing unprofessional behaviour,” he said.“Changing Police alone is not enough. The Judiciary must be transformed,” he said, adding that Chief Justice Benjamin Odoki is a professional judge according to his assessment.One person fainted during the meeting but was attended to.On weak State structures, Museveni said the problem was the weak implementation bodies: the EC (Electoral Commission), the CAOs (Chief Administrative Officers) and the Judiciary.He said the elaborate laws made could not implement themselves. “The public normally reports to Police and the Police do nothing. He said for instance in Rukungiri, Besigye’s supporters used to threaten violence (kuhaira) or even throw stones at Movement people.On Kiboga problems, Museveni said he was supposed to meet the Kiboga people and the state minister for defence, Ruth Nankabirwa, who is now on maternity leave. “Wait till she comes,” he said.On Richard Nduhuura, the state minister found to have voted twice, Museveni said he asked him whether he did it and “he said no”.