Local council courts and local conflict resolution : a case of Lubaga Division, Kampala District, Uganda.
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Date
2009
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Abstract
The government of Uganda, on realizing that community conflicts could not be handled
entirely by the centre, enacted a Local Councils Act, whose operationalization began on
8th June, 2006. The Act established the Local Council Courts for the administration of
Justice at the local levels; it was also intended to define the Jurisdictional powers and
procedures for the established Courts and other related matters. Laws and guidelines
were developed and the Minister of local government issued the Local Councils Courts
(Regulations) 2007 aimed at facilitating the operationalization of local councils in their
functions related to the administration of Justice. Since their inception, the experiences,
challenges, and people's perception of these local councils is not very clear.
Overall, the study explores the experiences of local council courts in resolving local
conflicts and also comes up with suggestions for more effective resolution of conflicts.
The specific objectives are: 1) to identify types of conflict handled; 2) to explain the
process of resolving conflicts; 3) to document the degree of satisfaction with the court
process and perception of the system's effectiveness; 4) to identify the challenges faced
by local council courts system in helping to resolve conflicts; and finally to make
suggestions for improving the effectiveness of these courts in resolving conflicts.
This study used a cross-sectional descriptive study and employed both qualitative and
quantitative data collection methods. It was conducted in Lubaga division (LC III),
Kampala District and it targeted members of the local courts, community members with
a case handled by the local court representatives of collaborating institutions.
The findings show that there was no uniform understanding of the phenomenon conflict
apart from the community respondents and key informants who almost had similar view
to mean 'a misunderstanding between two parties'. The local councils at all levels (LC I,
LC II, LC III) were only mandated to handle civil cases. The cases mostly handled
were; domestic violence (37/63); rent defaulting (35/63) and land disputes (30/63) .In all
these cases the causes were mostly economical, social, cultural and political in nature.
The study also found out that most of disputes were being brought willingly to the courts
but a small fee levied was unpopular among the community members. The local courts
were issued with guidelines to follow although these guidelines fell short of the
expectations of the members who wished they could also handle criminal cases. The
level of satisfaction with skills and capability of local courts members to handle cases
was just above 50% and the reasons advanced were that in most cases the conflicts
were usually resolved or settled, and the disputants were always allowed to ask
questions. Most of the conflicts were usually resolved through negotiations (37/63) with
courts playing a moderating role and encouraging the complainants to reconcile. Local
courts were also perceived to be effective in terms of being quick and cost effective.
The effectiveness of these courts was also looked at in terms of their ability to handle a
wide range of services as reported by 38/63%) of the respondents. Other factors which
were advanced as impacting negatively on the effectiveness of these courts include:
biasness (36/63); lack of follow up, political interference and to some extent corruption.
etc. The key challenges reported were; delivery of services on voluntary basis; lack of
coordination between police and local courts; lack of local courts to implement
judgments; pressure to make judgments on cases outside the mandate of these courts
and the high rates of child offenders yet they were protected the existing laws.
In conclusion, generally though not uniform there was a clear and rightful understanding
of the term conflict. The local council courts were following the guidelines and were
aware of their mandate of handling only civil cases which was a good practice. The
approach of local courts endeavoring to solve cases through negotiations was a good
one although at times it was reported as a slow process. Overall, communities were
satisfied with the local courts and felt that they were effective in handling local conflicts
The existing policies should be revised to accommodate: 1) remuneration of local court
officials, 2) empowering the local courts to enforce their judgments; 3) clearly defining
the roles and responsibilities of the local courts vis-à-vis those of the police and 4)
reviewing the laws regarding child-offenders less than 18 years of age.
Description
Thesis (M.Com.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2009.
Keywords
Conflict management--Uganda., Theses--Conflict resolution and peace studies.