Construction of appellant courts launched

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT  |  The Judiciary has launched the construction of both the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal at the High Court in Kampala. 

The ground-breaking ceremony took place on Friday. Construction of the two courts will cost 63.9 billion shillings. 

The Chief Justice Bart Katureebe said that the seven storied twin building once completed will enable a conducive environment for the justices to operate. 

According to Katureebe, the Judiciary has been spending six billion shillings in rent on both the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal at TWED Towers.

According to the design, the Court of Appeal will have 20 Chambers for Justices, five Board rooms, four court halls, three registries, and three chambers for the registrars and cells for suspects.

The Supreme Court building will on the other hand house 12 chambers for Justices, three Court halls, three Chambers for Registrars, three Registries among others.

It will also have facilities such as the Gym for Judges only and restaurants which will be used by the general public, facilities for breastfeeding mothers, internet cafe, business centres, security services and ramps to cater for easy movement of the people with disabilities.

Initially, the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals were supposed to be housed at the Justice Law and Order Sector-JLOS building at Naguru. The JLOS offices are expected to be a one-stop centre for all players in the sector.

However, Katureebe says that the proposal was rejected because it was to bring a lot of pressure on the judiciary since it was to be constructed under the Private Partnership arrangement which he was against.  

The contract was awarded to Seyani Brothers Construction Uganda Limited. 

Other companies that placed bids were Roko Construction Limited, China State Construction Eng Corp, Anaya and Ambitious Joint Venture, Anhui Sijan Holding Group, China Geo-Engineering Corporation, Samcrete Egypt Engineers and Construction and Sarick Construction Limited Joint Venture.

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