President Museveni has dug holes into the current judicial system brought by the British, saying it promotes the telling of lies in the courtroom to avoid possible conviction.

He says unlike in African jurisprudence where the core principle was truth-finding, the current legal system which we inherited from the colonialists encourages one to hire lawyers to cover up his or her mistakes in the courtroom.

“The lawyer’s job is to minimize his client’s mistake and maximize his innocence. He is paid to obscure the truth. All attempts to arrive at the truth are thwarted entirely,” by the Head of State through Vice President Maj. Jessica Alupo noted sadly.

Alupo had represented Museveni at the opening of the first African Chief Justices’ Summit on Alternative Dispute Resolution themed: “Re-engineering the administration of justice on the African continent,” taking place at Mistil Hotel in Kampala.

He cited his native tribe of Banyankore, which he said had an elaborate process of handling matrimonial issues.

Museveni explained that among the native Banyankore, if a woman had a misunderstanding with her husband and decided to go back to her parents or brothers (Okwangana), there was a process to follow. 

“First of all, her relatives would inquire from her why she had left her husband’s home. After a few days, the husband would come to Okugarura–to bring her back. His wife’s family would tell the man to return with four or five people from his family. The two sides, the one of the man and the one of the woman would then sit down and listen to both sides. The goal of the two sides was to find out the truth,” he explained.

The First citizen went on to say that under this Banyankore system, even your side would turn against you upon discovering that you are a wrongdoer. 

The president through his 2iC who is also Katakwi district woman MP explained that if for instance, the woman was in wrong, her own family would turn against her and order her to apologize to her husband. 

“That was one of our principles. It was based on truth rather than just legal battles. We did not cover up the truth,” Jjajja Museveni emphasized.

The president said such an example, clearly shows that the Africans did not tolerate impunity but tasked the guilty party to Okuhoonga (compensate) for his or her mistake.

Museveni said compensation was done in the form of goats and cows if the mistake did not include the shading of blood. 

As for murder; Museveni explained, it was paid with blood (Okukaraba) and this was done to help in the elimination of impunity as the price for such misbehaviour was high. 

“African jurisprudence, therefore, was committed to establishing harmony. This restoration of peace and harmony was cherished in the African system. Africans viewed disputes as an opportunity for strengthening instead of breaking societies and relationships,” he said, adding that the role of the Judiciary is to separate two parties that are fighting fairly so that everybody is satisfied.

Borrowing the words of Mahatma Gandhi who wrote in his Autobiography, that the true function of a lawyer is to unite parties riven asunder, the modern justice system therefore; has many lessons to learn and replicate from the African concept of justice.

He said the Traditional conflict resolution techniques such as mediation, adjudication, reconciliation and negotiation, which Africans employed in the past, offered great prospects for peaceful co-existence and harmonious relationships in post-conflict periods.

Museveni said the government will support the Judiciary to expand the use of alternative dispute resolution as this would help to rejuvenate the traditional systems of dispute resolution.

The President said Uganda is honoured to host the first Africa Chief Justices’ Summit on Alternative Dispute Resolution and commended the organizers who included the Judiciary, the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, the University of Pepperdine, the International Development Law Organization (IDLO) and the Swedish Embassy for organizing this High-Level Summit.

Museveni said the concept of ADR is not new in Africa but it existed in the continent before the coming of the European colonizers.

He said this African Jurisprudence and philosophy of law followed the methods of ADR which include mediation, arbitration reconciliation and negotiation.

“I am happy that our Judiciaries are re-aligning themselves to their African roots. The pre-colonial methods of handling disputes must be studied. They have some positive elements within them that the present legal systems must emulate,” he noted.