The Principal Judge Yorokamu Bamwine has warned Magistrates and lawyers working with private money lenders commonly known as loan sharks that they shall face dire consequences of the law.
Justice Bamwine says after a countrywide inspection tour, he can confirm that loan sharks are conspiring with some Magistrates to throw individuals in jail and take away their property. His tour was in Soroti, Mbale, Kapchorwa, Kabale, Mbarara, Rukungiri and Bushenyi among others.
The plot begins when the money lender lodges a case in court but the court clerk sits on the summons and does not issue it to the defendants.
The Magistrate then enters an ex-parte judgment and the defendants first get to know about the case when they are arrested by police and dumped in jail. After a six month jail term the defendant has no choice but to sell their property.
A ruling is said to be Ex-parte when judgment is made or undertaken on behalf of only one of the parties involved in a court case.
Justice Bamwine, who does not have the exact figures, says many debtors are languishing in jails throughout the country. He cites about five women in Mbarara district alone who are victims of the scum.
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The Principal Judge also notes that some loan sharks are reportedly turning loan agreements into outright sale agreements with the assistance of some unscrupulous lawyers.
Without pinning individual magistrates and lawyers, he calls for this form of injustice to be checked and has also asked the Uganda Law Society to warn its members who help the loan sharks draft fake documents.
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Justice Bamwine’s warning and country wide investigation follow a complaint from Kapchorwa that Magistrates in the district are dealing with the loan sharks. The anonymous complainant adds that the police have also been bribed and the arrests are mainly done in the night.
In Kapchorwa over 300 teachers have allegedly fallen victim and some have resorted to filing their appeals in the Mbale High Court.
Justice Bamwine calls on the public to come and complain to them vowing to deal with any case that involves judicial officers.
