AG team wins 41 cases worth sh111b
Apr 21, 2007
THE Attorney General’s (AG) chambers won 41 court cases worth sh111b last financial year. They, however, lost 74 cases worth sh9.9b, revealed the deputy Attorney General, Freddie Ruhindi.
By Apollo Mubiru
THE Attorney General’s (AG) chambers won 41 court cases worth sh111b last financial year. They, however, lost 74 cases worth sh9.9b, revealed the deputy Attorney General, Freddie Ruhindi.
“This was no mean achievement,†Ruhindi boasted before the parliamentary committee on legal and parliamentary affairs.
Presenting the budget framework for 2007/08 financial year to the committee chaired by Nakasongola MP Peter Nyombi, Ruhindi defended their decision to hire prominent lawyers from the private sector to help them defend big cases which state attorneys may not be able to handle.
He cited the presidential election petition of February 2006 by Dr. Kizza Besigye against President Yoweri Museveni and the Electoral Commission which the Attorney General ably defended and was dismissed without costs.
“When we are confronted with a big case, we run to the private sector because some times, we find it necessary. Imagine a case worth sh8b. Why wouldn’t I hire the expertise of senior lawyers to save that money?†Ruhindi asked.
The Undersecretary in the Justice and Constitutional Affairs ministry, Ernest Bafaki, said from September 2003 to February 2007, the AG won cases worth 326b against lost cases worth sh30b.
Bafaki regretted that the AG’s chambers would perform better but the absence of witnesses frequently in court forces the Government to lose cases.
He attributed the failure by the Government witnesses to attend court session to lack of a budget for that activity which results in awards of damages, compensations and costs against it.
As of June 30, 2006 statutory court awards arrears stood at sh55b and domestic compensation arrears at sh5.3b.
THE Attorney General’s (AG) chambers won 41 court cases worth sh111b last financial year. They, however, lost 74 cases worth sh9.9b, revealed the deputy Attorney General, Freddie Ruhindi.
“This was no mean achievement,†Ruhindi boasted before the parliamentary committee on legal and parliamentary affairs.
Presenting the budget framework for 2007/08 financial year to the committee chaired by Nakasongola MP Peter Nyombi, Ruhindi defended their decision to hire prominent lawyers from the private sector to help them defend big cases which state attorneys may not be able to handle.
He cited the presidential election petition of February 2006 by Dr. Kizza Besigye against President Yoweri Museveni and the Electoral Commission which the Attorney General ably defended and was dismissed without costs.
“When we are confronted with a big case, we run to the private sector because some times, we find it necessary. Imagine a case worth sh8b. Why wouldn’t I hire the expertise of senior lawyers to save that money?†Ruhindi asked.
The Undersecretary in the Justice and Constitutional Affairs ministry, Ernest Bafaki, said from September 2003 to February 2007, the AG won cases worth 326b against lost cases worth sh30b.
Bafaki regretted that the AG’s chambers would perform better but the absence of witnesses frequently in court forces the Government to lose cases.
He attributed the failure by the Government witnesses to attend court session to lack of a budget for that activity which results in awards of damages, compensations and costs against it.
As of June 30, 2006 statutory court awards arrears stood at sh55b and domestic compensation arrears at sh5.3b.