President Yoweri Museveni has asked female judges to support free universal education in a bid to keep girls in school.
He was addressing the 17th International Association of Women Judges (IAWJ)- Africa Region Conference at the Commonwealth Resort Hotel, Munyonyo Wednesday.
The three-day conference has drawn female judges and magistrates from 13 countries under the theme; “Women Judges: Breaking Barriers to Equal Justice and Strengthening Institutions”.
The judges are from Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Ghana, Nigeria, Zambia, Ethiopia, and South Africa among other countries.
In his speech, Museveni urged the women’s movement under the judiciary to support efforts by the Uganda government to provide free universal education, saying that this is one of the ways to keep girls in school and consolidate gains made in uplifting women in Africa.
“We are struggling to change society and we are passing through two ways. One way is universal education for everybody to go to school. This one is not well understood by the advocates…you people who advocate for women’s rights, you don’t support me. I am always fighting alone,” Museveni said.
He emphasized the need to banish charges in government schools to ensure that children do not drop out of school.
Museveni further explained his proposal, saying that most of the free education program beneficiaries will be girls and therefore protect them from several injustices. “An educated woman knows what to do and is not easy to deceive or to confuse,” he said.
Besides free education, the President told the judges that the second route through, which women can break barriers in business is by using the abundant land for financial gains.
“We still have some tactical issues there like…because of the archaic system, we still have problems of inheritance for girls. The girls are not supposed to inherit, it is the boys, of course for me I don’t respect that. My girls have their share,” the President said.
According to Museveni, the issue of inheritance by girls can still be solved through hiring land but there is a need for leaders to first ensure that the concept of a money economy is bought.
Alfonse Owiny-Dollo, the Chief Justice of Uganda said that although the country’s top office in the Judiciary is currently not vacant, they have a handful of women judges who can ably take on the mantle. Dollo made the statement in reference to Kenya’s female Chief Justice, Martha Koome.
The Chief Justice said that the Women Judge’s conference is timely because Uganda is currently grappling with an upsurge in cases of gender-based violence and women and children trafficking.
“Because of our cultural setup, accessing evidence of women and children especially relating to sexual matters has been the worst go area for anybody. A number of cases are course listed for prosecution while a few others cannot be proved because the key witnesses are reluctant to open up and tell the court the unfortunate details leading to the crime,” said Owiny-Dollo.
He said that they are hopeful that the conference will act as a forum to share views, experiences and best practices on how to best manage the situation.
Martha Koome, the Chief Justice of Kenya appealed to women judges to look at their positions as a rare opportunity to transform the judiciary by eradicating all barriers that impede access to justice especially the vulnerable in society.
“I laud the speech by His Excellency the President of Uganda when he said that we have to eradicate poverty. We have to use the judiciary to ensure that we promote and protect human rights and protect and defend the rule of law so that we can also defend our democracies in Africa,” said Koome.
He encouraged women, magistrates, and judges, to continue breaking barriers and occupy positions of leadership.
Sarah Langa Siu, the Chief Registrar of the Judiciary in Uganda, said that the three-day conference is scheduled to discuss ways of enhancing community justice systems, justice delivery in Sexual and Gender-Based Violence cases, disability and mental health safeguards in the justice system, child protection, and inter-country adoption and others.
The International Association of Women Judges is a worldwide association that was formed in 1991 as a forum through, which women judges from all over the world can convene, share experiences and seek solutions that collectively influence global and domestic jurisprudence.