Justice Ministry needs UGX 500b to clear court awards

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT  | The Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs lacks 545 Billion shillings to clear arrears in court awards that have accumulated in the past three years.

Appearing before the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee on Thursday, the Attorney General, William Byaruhanga said that there is need to clear the arrears that have continued to attract interests.

According to Byaruhanga funding of the Ministry is meagre and has remained static over the years.

He says they have a budget shortfall of Shillings 615 billion which has affected operations of the Ministry including recruitment of staff.

The Ministry is also seeking for 10 billion shillings in funding for verification of war claimants in Northern, Eastern and West Nile region who were affected by war.

The claims arise from cases of land compensation, evictions, war claims, recommendations from the Human Rights Commission arising from torture of civilians among others.

The Ministry also needs 13 billion shillings for the establishment of the Constitutional review commission.

The Ministry was allocated 162 billion shillings for financial year 2019/2020.

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