Mob justice and its implications in urban Uganda: a case study of Kampala City

Abstract

The study investigated the implications of mob justice in Uganda with Kampala city as a case study. The main objectives were; to examine the causes and effects of mob justice in Kampala, to examine how mob justice affects the criminal justice system and to suggest solutions to the problem of mob justice with a view of securing criminal justice and rule of law. The study was confined to Kampala city while using intensity purposive sampling of selected community members, Local council leaders, Human Rights Activists, Police officers and Judicial officers while using Questionnaire interview method and documentary review in the process of collecting data. The study established the following major causes of mob justice in Kampala to include the tendency of criminals to bribe their way out of police custody and thereon prosecution in courts of law as a corrupt practice by some police and some judicial officers, the long elaborate and cumbersome criminal justice system from arresting, investigating, prosecuting, bail rights, conviction and Appeal rights to the convicted person are views as unjust practices by some members of the public towards the perceived criminal and therefore resort to quick elimination of their perceived criminal in form of a mob. The thesis is divided into five chapters; Chapter one introduces the subject matter and the study, the background of the problem, the objectives, the research problem, scope of study and significance of the study. The second chapter looks at the concept of mob justice and its evolution, concept of criminal justice, mob justice and its causes, effects of mob justice, solutions and the theoretical framework. The third chapter focuses on research methodology, looks at the research design, area and population of study, sampling strategy and procedure, data collection methods, data management and analysis and data presentation. Chapter four analyses the causes and effect of mob justice as well as its magnitude, it looks at the effect of mob justice and its implication on the criminal justice system finally the remedies to mob justice in securing rule of law. Chapter five highlights the conclusions and recommendations to combat the problem of mob justice.