In a move that could officially endorse the use of mobile payments by the Judiciary in Uganda, courts are contemplating the use of mobile money service as a means of easing payments for clients to settle financial-related business with courts. This move will eliminate the unnecessary long bank queues and save time for clients who pay court fees through banks.
According to the Monitor,the Judiciary assistant public relations officer, Mr Araali Kahoro Muhiirwa, said at Kabale High Court on Wednesday that consultations on the matter are ongoing with all the stakeholders. He said
“We are planning to introduce the use of mobile money services as an alternative means in which court users can pay fines, court bail money and fees. We feel that once this is done, it will offer quick services to court users and also reduce the litigation time in our courts.”
Since some plea cases are handled by the judges and magistrates in the afternoon — and not in the morning hours — clients don’t have ample time to pay court fees due to the long bank queues and the consideration of adopting mobile money will also avoid unnecessary spending of nights in the slammer by clients as they wait for court fees to be cleared.
Source: Monitor
