Is Justice Tibatemwa being targeted for age limit judgment?

Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT |Supreme Court Justice Lillian Tibatemwa was appointed to the Seychelles Court of Appeal, the country’s highest court in September.

Ordinarily, this would be a reason to celebrate in the judicial community in Uganda. Not the case though. Apparently there is an issue regarding the procedure in which she took up the job.

Now the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) is tasking her to explain her appointment to the Seychelles court.

A September 30 letter from the JSC to Justice Tibatemwa reads “In its meeting of September 25, the commission discussed your appointment to the Court of Appeal in Seychelles. The commission requests you to avail your letter/ instrument of appointment and other relevant documents from the government of Seychelles to determine whether the said position can be held contemporaneously with that of being a justice of the Supreme Court of Uganda.”

This has prompted speculation that Tibatemwa, a former deputy vice chancellor at Makerere University, is probably being targeted for quashing the age limit amendment in a petition before the Supreme Court.

The petition was dismissed in a 4-3 verdict and Tibatemwa was among the three justices who ruled that the process leading to the conceptualization of Constitution (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill, 2017, which paved way for scrapping of the presidential age limit was illegal.

The other justices are Paul Mugamba and Eldard Mwanguhya.