The project seeks to dismantle barriers preventing survivors from accessing justice by promoting a survivor-centered approach. According to Dr. Zeija, the initiative reflects a commitment from justice stakeholders and development partners to ensure that justice is not a privilege for a select few but a fundamental right for all.
She noted that arms trafficking increased due to the growing influence of the ADF in the region when it comes to counterfeit goods which she said is a huge burden on economic growth.
She emphasized that ideally, there should be more prosecutors than judicial officers. This would ensure there are enough personnel to handle tasks such as reviewing case files, providing legal advice, and representing the prosecution in court.
The SOPs provide practical guidance for conducting comprehensive and effective criminal proceedings against TIP, encompassing reactive and proactive investigative approaches, international police cooperation, and financial inquiries.
The introduction of the guidelines comes at a time when the Office of the DPP has faced occasional criticism for rushing to prefer charges against individuals.
The suspects say that it is unfortunate that they were arrested and arraigned in Court despite a lack of sufficient evidence to warrant the Prosecution and this has reportedly been manifested in court.
But Speaking to Uganda Radio Network on Tuesday, DPP Abodo says that they are ready to try Mumbere but there are just a few issues such as limited numbers of judicial officers in the judiciary, shortage of funding and the jitters in prisons since they follow the order of first come first out (as there are other unprosecuted prisoners who were charged before King Mumbere was, nearly six years ago).
In a letter dated December 23 2021 from the office of the DPP to Ssemakadde, it indicates that they have constituted a team and is currently making necessary court preparations as per his complaint.
The same decision was confirmed by the Supreme Court on November 19th 2021 by the Supreme Court Justices in a majority decision of six against one, thereby paving way for the resumption of the suspects' trial.
Abodo explains that they used to be 324 Prosecutors but some of them have since crossed from the office of the DPP to the Judiciary looking for greener pastures and currently they are about 300 prosecutors handling a population of more than 40 million people which makes them get strained with work.
