The Permanent Secretary/Secretary to the Judiciary, Dr. Plus Bigirimana was on Friday night in a jovial mood as he addressed Judicial Officers at the inaugural Uganda Judicial Officers Association Dinner, held at the beautiful Conference Hall, at the Supreme Court Building.
Dr Bigirimana expressed his joy at seeing the dinner take place in the new sky lit building, attributing its completion to teamwork.
He gave a brief history leading to the completion of the construction works as hundreds of Judicial officers listened attentively sipping their drinks elegantly dressed in gold, white and black dinner outfits.
Dr. Bigirimana acknowledged the efforts of some retired Judicial Officers notably Chief Justice Emeritus Bart Katureebe, Principal Judge Emeritus Dr Yorokamu Bamwine. He also recognized Chief Justice Alfonse Chigamoy Owiny – Dollo (then Deputy Chief Justice) and Lady Justice Esta Nambayo (then Chief Registrar), who he observed laid the foundation for the project.
The Judiciary Accounting Officer in a special way thanked the Chief Registrar, HW Sarah Langa Siu who at the time was the Chair Contracts Committee for selecting, what he described as the best construction company, that saw a saving of about 8.5 billion shillings, with emphasis however that the savings was as a result of close supervision and monitoring.
The PS/SJ went at length to share his experience in securing funds for the construction works from the Ministry of Finance.
Highlighting the importance of the conference hall to saving colossal sums that ought to have been spent in hotels, the PS observed;
“We managed to add on a floor for the conference hall at the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal, together with the interior designs which we managed to squeeze in the contingency funds that had been estimated. What would have been spent on contingency ended up funding the extra work that was done satisfactorily”.
Dr Bigirimana also noted that the two courthouses offer many lessons to all bureaucrats especially Accounting Officers.
He emphasized the importance of teamwork , patriotism, constant supervision and monitoring, but above all, stressing the importance of the Judiciary having its own home.
The PS/SJ also shared a personal anecdote of initially hesitating to attend UJOA functions but eventually developed a good relationship with the Association.
Dr Bigirimana’s reign as the Judiciary’s Accounting Officer has been characterised by fundamental impact in infrastructural development, increased resource mobilization and allocation, automation of court processes, among others.