The Minister for Justice and Attorney Ge neral, Johnston Busingye, has cautioned court bailiffs and notaries in the country against accepting gifts from the public provided in return for their service, saying such gifts are a disguised form of "bribe.”

He made the remarks yesterday while presiding over the swearing-in of 126 professional and 33 non-professional court bailiffs and two notaries.

The ceremony was held at the ministry’s offices in Kimihurura.

Busingye called on the group to be characterised by integrity, accountability and bravery to accomplish their duties.

He noted that graft attracts penalties, and cannot be tolerated by the government.

"You have committed to serve the community. The responsibilities are not easy; you should work positively so that your contribution adds value to our justice system. If the work of executing court judgments among other tasks of legal institutions is handled on time and well, it will further improve the justice sector,” the minister said.

He said that the essence of court bailiffs’ work is to help community to get justice easily and faster.

According to official statistics, there now 3156 court bailiffs countrywide, excluding those who work from prisons.

Busingye said that these numbers should be reflected in execution of court judgments.

Commenting on professionalism, the minister warned the new bailiffs against making mistakes such as auctioning people’s property without due regard of the law.

He also asked them to be available all the time so that in case of need, the public should find them easily without waiting for hours.

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