The judiciary has admitted that its officers, including judges, magistrates and prosecutors, may need special training on how to handle financial fraud. Deputy Chief Justice Moses Kazibwe Kawumi told the 4th Financial Sector Anti-Fraud Forum 2026 of the Uganda Bankers Association (UBA) that the lack of adequate knowledge by judicial officers could be one of the reasons financial fraud is thriving in the country.
He says that while investigations lead to arrests, the whole legal process ends with the courts, where the cases either die or are successfully tried, but that what happens at each stage affects the final results.
Drawing on his years presiding over the High Court Bench in circuits including Kabale, Masaka and Mubende, he described a mismatch at the heart of financial crime response. He says that fraud moves in seconds, but investigation and prosecution move far slower, a gap he said all institutions in the justice chain must confront together.
According to the Judiciary’s own numbers, 239,431 cases were completed against a total caseload of 401,269 in the last reporting year, leaving 161,838 pending, of which 42,588 are classified as backlog. Justice Kawumi vowed that cases which affect the economy, including financial fraud which locks up money out of circulation, should be a priority of the judicial sector, hence the need for promotion of supplementary and alternative processes like Alternative Dispute Resolution.
”The transaction may occur in seconds, the investigation may take months, and the litigation may take years. This mismatch between the speed of the crime and the speed of the justice response is one of the issues that institutions represented here must confront together.”
He outlined ongoing Judiciary reforms taking place, including the Sixth Judiciary Strategic Plan for the 2025/26 to 2029/30 period, the rollout of the Electronic Court Case Management Information System (ECCMIS), expanded use of ADR, and deeper technical training at the Judicial Training Institute (JTI) on digital evidence and financial crime.
The Forum was convened by the Uganda Bankers’ Association (UBA), Payment Systems Providers Association (PSPA) and Anti-Fraud Consortium (AFC) under the theme, “Safeguarding the Citizen: Beyond Infrastructure, Into Enforcement.” “Fraud, to me, is an industry. Very fast-growing, with the modus operandi changing every time. So as a single bank, as a single organisation, you can’t fight fraud alone,” Justice Kazibwe said.
He noted that responsibility for delays in the justice chain cannot be attributed to one institution, since challenges may arise during investigations, evidence gathering, prosecution, case preparation, judicial case management and enforcement of court orders. His statements followed an appeal by UBA for reforms of the legal frameworks, especially regarding the prosecution and sentencing of perpetrators.
UBA Chairman called for closer cooperation amongst all stakeholders, as no one institution or sector could defeat financial fraud. He said, for example, that through the Commercial Court’s mediation initiative, 217 out of 527 banking-related cases were resolved, unlocking about 90 billion shillings that had been tied up in the justice system since 2020.
From January to August 2026, 6,533 cyber and fraud incidents were reported, with actual losses of about 24 billion shillings and suspected exposure estimated at 68 billion. “The response must therefore go beyond stronger controls within individual institutions.
Banks, regulators, law enforcement, the Judiciary and customers need to strengthen information sharing, speed up the reporting and investigation of fraud, improve coordination across institutions and build greater public awareness around emerging fraud risks,” Mugabi said, calling for penalties for offenders to make fraud a costly venture.
The need for collaboration was also echoed by Tumubweinee Twinemanzi, Chairperson of the Financial Sector Anti-Fraud Consortium. He says that apart from identifying incidents, fighting fraud also requires sharing knowledge, strengthening systems and working together.
He, however, says that any approach should not leave out the general public, and citizens have a big role to play in fighting fraud. He highlighted the need for stronger collaboration across the financial sector to tackle fraud. He noted that financial institutions have made progress, but more can be done through better coordination and information sharing.
Tumubweinee notes that fraud is one of the risks that could undermine Uganda’s bid to improve the image of its financial industry globally as it undergoes the latest review by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global body that advocates for financial systems free of money laundering and terrorist financing.-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
