More than half of Uganda’s young people no longer trust the country’s formal justice system, a 2024 survey by the Human Rights Center Uganda has revealed.
The findings indicate that 51.2% of youth now prefer to report rights violations to Local Council (LC) authorities rather than engage with official courts or police.
Kennedy Ocheng, Program Officer at Human Rights Center Uganda, said the growing mistrust has forced many youths to abandon legal processes altogether.
“Some of the youth know their rights, but they don’t trust the justice system at any level. As a result, they resort to reporting their cases to LC authorities or, in some instances, take the law into their own hands,” Ocheng said during a Justice Actors’ Training held Tuesday at Tripple O Hotel in Padibe, Lamwo district.
The training brought together justice actors from Kitgum and Lamwo districts to explore solutions to persistent challenges of rights violations, delayed justice, and barriers to legal access.
Angee Immaculate Laker, a human rights defender, noted that high legal costs, poverty, and limited legal awareness remain the biggest obstacles for rural youth.
“Many youths in Kitgum and Lamwo lack knowledge about their fundamental rights, including where to seek legal redress in cases of abuse, land disputes, employment disagreements, or gender-based violence,” said Angee Immaculate Laker, a youth human rights defender from Kitgum.
According to Laker, this gap leaves them vulnerable to exploitation and unlawful practices.
Babu Robert, from KINGFO, noted that long travel distances to courts and police stations, combined with poor road infrastructure, discourage youth from pursuing justice. “Transport costs alone remain prohibitive, particularly for those from rural areas,” he said.
Atim Sarah, a youth from Padibe Town Council, said that young people in her area often abandon cases midway because they cannot afford to travel to Lamwo Magistrate’s Court or Kitgum Town. “As a result, cases go unreported or unresolved,” she added.
The Human Rights Center Uganda has called for urgent reforms to rebuild public confidence in the justice system through accountability, transparency, and community engagement.
Eric Namungalu, a lawyer, law lecturer at Uganda Christian University, and head of programs at the Human Rights Center Uganda, stressed the importance of government intervention.
“We need free legal aid clinics, mobile court sessions, and community legal awareness campaigns tailored to rural youth. Without bridging these gaps, the cycle of injustice and disempowerment among young people in Northern Uganda will persist,” Namungalu said.
Experts caution that unless these issues are addressed, mistrust in formal institutions will continue to deepen, threatening social cohesion and reinforcing reliance on informal and sometimes unlawful systems of justice.
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