Museveni wants law to regulate moneylenders
The Chief Justice of the Kingdom of Eswatini and chairperson of the Southern and Eastern Africa Chief Justices Forum, Bheki Maphalala, president Museveni, Uganda Chief Justice Alfonse Owiny-Dollo and Kenya Chief Justice Martha Koome with other chief justices at the opening of the Justices forum conference in Munyonyo yesterday. President Museveni told them that Uganda has started a move to make a law that saves people from extortion money lenders. PHOTO/ABUBAKER LUBOWA.
What you need to know:
- This is not the first time the President has complained about the exploitative habits of moneylenders.
President Museveni has vowed to crack down on exploitative money lenders, who he said take advantage of ignorant and desperate people .
The President said his government would push for the enactment of a law to fight the vice.
“Money lenders are becoming a problem. They go to our villagers [and] cheat them [villagers],” President Museveni said on October 1 during the opening ceremony of the Southern and Eastern Africa Chief Justices Forum conference at Speke Resort Munyonyo in Kampala.
Mr Museveni gave an elaborate example of how ignorant people are exploited by cunning lenders.
“Inflation rate in Uganda is very low. It is only three percent…even lower, but you find people charging 240 percent, in an economy where the inflation rate is only two percent. Why do you do that?” he said.
“…. Of course we are going to make the law. But if it was me, even before the law came, just using the law of contract... because that is what they are claiming now, that there was a contract between an illiterate villager with the money lender, that they signed something and in that document, they do not say that X borrowed from Y. [Rather] they say X bought the house of Y, so a lending contract is hidden as a purchase contract,” Mr Museveni said.
He added: “But if it was me sitting in the case, I would say how can a house in Munyonyo cost Shs1 million? You can see from the content of the so-called contract that this could not have been a sale, it was a borrowing but just using the ignorance of these people.”
This is not the first time the President has complained about the exploitative habits of moneylenders.
In some of his previous addresses, he has repeatedly warned them against charging excessive interest rates and accused them of impeding the country’s economic growth.
Mr Museveni was the chief guest at the conference, which brings together chief justices and judges from more than 15 countries in the Southern and Eastern regions of Africa to deliberate on issues affecting justice delivery.
Justice perspective
On his part, Chief Justice Alfonse Owiny-Dollo mentioned the numerous justice challenges common in African countries, including inadequate court infrastructure, delayed adjudication [case backlog], geographical barriers, social economic development, poverty, high cost of legal services, ignorance, corruption, gender chauvinism, cultural norms, poor technological systems, interference with judicial independence and understaffing, among others.
Justice Owiny-Dollo expressed hope that participants in the meeting would come up with solutions to the numerous challenges faced in the course of delivering justice.
“Through this forum, we are constantly reminded of the profound responsibility that calls for the willingness to learn from one another and to change our mindsets, when necessary,” he said.
He added: “I am hopeful that through the conference, we share good practices and lay strategies necessary for improving justice in our respective jurisdictions.”
While reflecting on the conference’s theme, “Enhanced access to justice: Underscoring reforms in African judiciaries,” Justice of the Supreme Court Mike Chibita said it should be a reminder to acknowledge the fact that the issues faced in the realm of justice are not limited to any single region or nation but are global in character.
“The impediments to meaningful access to justice, challenges ushered in by technological advancement, and the intense pressure stirred by rapid population growth and urbanisation all point to the need for immediate and appropriate judicial reforms, the role of judicial leaders in championing these reforms has now even become more critical,” Justice Chibita said.
By sharing diverse experiences and insights, Justice Chibita added that they could then collectively illuminate pathways toward improved service delivery and judicial transformation.
Finance
The Chief Justice of the Kingdom of Eswatini, Bheki Maphalala, called for “African countries to support their judiciaries with adequate financial resources if the administration of justice and rule of law are to be realised.”
He said many judicial officers in Africa are poorly paid and are subjected to poor working conditions.
The conference will end on October 4.
