Government through the Attorney General Chambers is seeking to criminalise the practice of mishandling property left behind for orphans.
This will see guardians and administrators who mishandle the property jailed for five years and forced to repay the losses incurred.
The proposal is contained in The Succession Amendment Bill 2021 that was reintroduced to Parliament by Deputy Attorney General Jackson Kafuuzi during today’s plenary sitting.
In the proposed clause 44, The Succession Amendment Bill for the first time clearly defines a Statutory guardian; is, and in incidences where upon the death of either a father, a mother or both parents of a minor, and where no guardian has been appointed by the will of the father or mother of the minor or if the guardian appointed by the will of either the mother or father is dead or refuses to act, the following persons shall, in the following order of priority, grandparents, uncles and aunties take priority.
(2) Where there is no person willing or entitled to be a guardian under subsection (l) (a), (b) or (c), the court may, on the application of any person interested in the welfare of the minor, appoint a guardian. However, one can only be deemed a legal guardian only if they are citizens in Uganda.
In clause 46, the Bill stipulates the powers and duties of guardian including being representative of the minor for purposes of managing the share of the minor in the estate of a deceased person.
The Legislation seeks to mandate the guardian to take all reasonable steps to safeguard the property of the minor from loss or damage and shall annually account, in respect of the property of the minor, to the surviving parent court or custodian of the minor or to any other person as the court may direct.
However clause 46(4) if passed into law will make it criminal for a guardian who misappropriates the property of a minor and such a person if found liable by court, would be convicted to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years or to a fine not exceeding one hundred and fifty currency points.
It is a good intervation.