Judge Cheborion Barishaki. Photo | Antonio Wesaka
Court of Appeal Judge Cheborion Barishaki suggested to his fellow judges that they get used to going to the box (legally known as the visiting position) in cases of maternal fitness and verifying the truth.
The lawyer considered that the scale in the place not only prevents land problems but also maternal health issues that are very sensitive and important.
According to judicial practice, judicial officials, before issuing their verdict, pass on to the box and to themselves what is there.
“Lawyers do not deserve to be there to pretend they were late, the challenge deserves to be whether those fitness facilities are provided. Go to the hospitals and see, I think we deserve to start visiting the places,” Justice Barishaki said. he said on Thursday at the National Symposium on Maternal Health, Reproductive Health and the Earth organized through Ahaki, a civil society organization in Kampala.
He added: “Many on-site visits are carried out on territorial issues, but when it comes to hospitals, the Constitutional Court has never stood up to say: let’s move on to Nakaseke Hospital, let’s move on to Arua Hospital, no, they decide. ” The cases in affidavits and affidavits say that everything is fine, that there are medications, doctors and that’s it.
In 2014, Benjamin Kabiito, then a High Court judge, physically visited Nakaseke Hospital to see for himself whether it was due to negligence that a pregnant woman died without the assistance of the fitness staff on duty.
The local government hospital had been accused of neglecting Ms Irene Nanteza for more than 10 hours while she was in labour, resulting in her death and that of her unborn baby.
The judge’s stay in the hospital was due to the testimony of a midwife, Easter Nanfuka, who contradicted herself by protecting the hospital.
In her testimony, Nurse Nanfuka informed the court that in the emergency where they needed a doctor to attend to the deceased, Dr Mubeezi was at the hospital but did not know exactly where he was.
Nurse Nanfuka had also told the court that she sent the hospital security guard to the doctor to check if he was there or not, but the guard came back and said no.
At the same event, Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs Nobert Mao commended the efforts made through civil society organizations in favor of maternal health.
“Things (health problems) are not as bad as they used to be, we were in a worse scenario and now we are in a much bigger scenario. In this room, there are other people who spit in the hands of others, grabbed the plow and things were given to them already done,” said the minister.
In 2020, the Constitutional Court, in a landmark ruling, ruled that the government’s failure to adequately provide basic maternal fitness care and emergency obstetric care in public fitness centers violated the right to physical fitness, the right to life, and guaranteed women’s rights. in the Constitution.
Among the orders of the Constitutional Court judges were that the Minister of Health compile and present to Parliament an audit report on the state of maternal fitness in Uganda every two years, and that the government prioritize and provide sufficient budget in the budget national. for the care of maternal fitness.
The court’s other direction was for the Minister of Health to ensure that all staff providing maternal health care in the country are fully trained and that all health centers are stocked in the next 2 fiscal years (2020/2021 and 2021/2022). . .
Dr. Moses Mulumba, Ahaki’s boss, who presented a paper on the role of the courts in advancing maternal and reproductive fitness, cited several court instances he filed on maternal fitness, adding the prominent constitutional petition number 16 that radically replaced the situation. maternal aptitude in the country.
He suggested that judges handling cases involving maternal fitness read about them with a judicial lens and not with a political doctrine lens as constitutional judges did in the first ruling.
“Judicial decisions have been left to their own devices in many social, economic and cultural problems. In examining the role of the judiciary in fitness policy, fitness policy practitioners have expressed considerations about whether judges have the education or experiential education to make decisions involving complex issues such as fitness insurance policy and disease treatment,” said Dr. Mulumba.
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