Government has tabled the Judicature (Amendment) Bill, 2023, seeking to increase the number of judges on both the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal.

The Supreme Court is the highest Court of judicature in Uganda while the Court of Appeal, which also sits as the Constitutional Court, listens to appeals from the High Court.

The Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, Norbert Mao, tabled the bill during the sitting chaired by Speaker, Anita Among, on Wednesday, 22 November 2023.

Among observed that the Bill has only two clauses and tasked the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee, to which it was referred for scrutiny, to process and return it for the second reading next week.

“The bill has few clauses, only two clauses. I want you to work hard and bring it back on Tuesday for the second reading,” Among said.

Among was concerned that constitutional amendments are handled piecemeal, and asked Mao to explain the fate of the Constitutional Review Commission, which she said would ideally handle all constitutional amendments.

“We have a lot of constitutional amendment proposals, and we want to know if we are having a constitutional review commission or not,” said Among.

Mao reiterated that his ministry was financially constrained to establish the commission and instead advised the government to utilize the Uganda Law Reform Commission. 

“It is regrettable that the constitutional review commission has not been constituted. We have decided to recommend to the government the Uganda Law Reform Commission to take charge of the review process; it is a constitutional body with the ability to do the work, all we would need is to beef it up with additional members,” Mao said.

He added that he had received 80 percent of constitutional amendment proposals that are pending cabinet approval.

According to the government, Case backlog as at 30th April, 2023 at the two courts stands as follows; the Supreme Court – 303 backlog cases out of a total of 668 pending cases and in the Court of Appeal – 5,173 backlog cases out of a total of 8,698 pending cases.

“Acute case backlog requires more manpower to deliver justice to the people of Uganda effectively. In the circumstances, it has become necessary to amend the Judicature Act, Cap. 13 in section 3 and 9 to increase the number of Justices of the Supreme Court and the number of Justices of the Court of Appeal as envisaged by articles 130 and 134 of the Constitution respectively,” said Mao.

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The Bank of Uganda raised Shs1.1 trillion from the auction of two treasury bills in the month of October 2023, latest reports reveal.

According to the Performance of the Economy Report for October 2023, there were two Treasury bill auctions, one Treasury bond auction and one bond switch operation in the domestic primary market, from which a total of Shs1.137.67 trillion was raised.

Of this, Shs788.72 billion was raised from treasury bills while Shs348.95 billion was from the treasury bond issuance.

“Shs686.14 billion of the total amount raised went towards refinancing maturing domestic debt in the month, while the remainder of Shs451.53 billion was used for financing other items in the budget,” the report adds.

Treasury bills are risk-free short term financial instruments for investment regularly issued to the public by the government through Bank of Uganda. On the other hand, treasury bonds are debt securities issued by the government.

According to the report, all auctions for Treasury Bills were oversubscribed, with the average bid to cover ratio being recorded at 2.84 in October 2023, albeit lower than 4.02 which was registered in September 2023.

However, experts warn that rising Treasury bond yields could shrink cash for investors.

In October 2023, yields (interest rates) edged downwards for the 91-day tenor, remained unchanged for the 182-day tenor, and slightly increased for the 364-day tenor. The annualized yields for the 91-day, 182-day and 364-day tenors for October 2023 were 9.3%, 12.4% and 12.9%, compared to 10.0%, 12.4% and 12.8% in September 2023, respectively. The reduction in yield rates is majorly on account of the decline in inflation.

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The Uganda Green Enterprise Finance Accelerator (UGEFA) and Dfcu Bank have signed a memorandum of understanding to facilitate the provision of credit to support SMEs across the sectors of clean energy, green manufacturing, sustainable tourism, waste management and green mobility and transportation.

The partnership also aims to amplify green impacts generated by SMEs and the creation of direct and indirect jobs.

The partnership agreement was signed between UGEFA, represented by the European Union Delegation to Uganda as its donor and Adelphi as its implementing organization, and Dfcu Bank.

Charles Mudiwa, CEO of Dfcu Bank, and Sanne Willems, Head of Sustainable Development at the European Union Delegation to Uganda, joined by other project and bank representatives, attended the signature ceremony at the headquarters of Dfcu Bank in Kampala.

With this partnership, Dfcu Bank joins a community of financial institutions spearheading the commitment to drive forward environmentally sustainable initiatives in the country. Joint work between commercial banks and UGEFA creates opportunities to establish innovative green finance instruments which facilitate access to finance for green SMEs.

Speaking at the partnership announcement, Charles Mudiwa, CEO of Dfcu Bank noted that the partnership is a symbol of the Bank’s commitment to fulfilling its purpose of Transforming Lives and Businesses in Uganda. “Dfcu has been at the helm of enabling businesses at various stages realize their dreams to grow responsibly while attaining profitability. We are confident that this partnership will allow us to continue on this journey, which will undoubtedly benefit multiple individuals, businesses, and communities.”

Christine Meyer, UGEFA Project Lead: “We are honoured to welcome Dfcu Bank to a community of committed role models financing change in Uganda. We believe that this partnership between Dfcu Bank and UGEFA will create lasting impacts – it will further increase access to finance for green SMEs in Uganda and scale green sector financing.”

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