The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
“There’s so many fall back positions,” he says.
This is exactly what happened when the Judicial Service Commission recommended Bart Katureebe for the position of Chief Justice when the position fell vacant in 2013. President Museveni instead appointed Steven Kavuma as acting Chief Justice and he served in that capacity for two years and built a reputation as a `cadre judge’.
Although Katureebe was eventually appointed to the position in 2015, Kavuma the deputy chief justice, stayed in the news over his controversial rulings.
Kavuma’s accusers point at interim orders he has issued in cases such as the ordering out of office of leading opposition stalwart, Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago, halting a Chief Magistrate’s Court from prosecuting Inspector General of Police, Kale Kayihura, and banning some activities of the leading opposition party; the Forum for Democratic Change.
Wilfred Niwagaba, the Shadow Attorney General told The Independent that getting another Kavuma is not far-fetched.
“Museveni’s criteria on appointments has always been loyalty. Kavuma would put the law on the side and do Museveni’s bidding. He can always get a Kavuma. There are lawyers in private practice he can appoint and they could even be worse.”
Under the law, a person qualifies to be appointed Deputy Chief Justice if they have served as a justice of the Supreme Court or Justice of Court of Appeal or as a judge of the High Court or if they have practised as an advocate for not less than fifteen years before a court having unlimited jurisdiction in civil and criminal matters.
Niwagaba says justices on the Court of Appeal like Frederick Egonda Ntende and Remmy Kasule would be good picks. He says the JSC must be prepared to take on Museveni over the appointments.
“I think they will act independently and with integrity. They should stand their ground and upon recommendation, publish names of those judges. They should do that so as not to be tied in some conspiracy. They should put it in the public domain.”
‘Mob justice’
But Kiryowa Kiwanuka says focus should be qualifications of appointees without making them subject of a public debate where anyone who has personal issues with candidates can use the opportunity to malign them.
He says those who think the public is not already involved in the selection of judges should understand that JSC is composed of members from ULS, the public and then at a later stage, Parliament‘s Appointments Committee which comprises peoples representatives. He says even the President who makes the final decision is elected by the people.
According to Kiwanuka, the JSC is best placed for the exercise because it does it in a managed process. “People will engage in vendetta but if that’s what people want, we can go back to the constitution and change. If this trend continues then we shall vote for who becomes head of UNRA, NMS because they are all of importance to the public.” He told The Independent that there is debate in the vetting process because people can write to the Appointments committee of Parliament if they have complaints.
But those pushing for publishing of names and open hearings point at Kenya where vetting of judges became public about six years ago after outcry over bribery in the judiciary. Those who backed the move said it would make judges more accountable in their ways. Although it is not easy to tell whether it has checked graft, the public is always frenzied during a vetting. A number of applicants in Kenya, however, expressed displeasure about the public exercise.
In other democracies like the US, it’s a time-honoured tradition where Supreme Court justices, Court of Appeal Judges, and district court judges appear before the Senate for confirmation.
ULS President Gimara says public hearings help expose personal faults of candidates.
“If say someone does not pay his debts and people raise it is, then they will suffer the burden. The integrity is not the debt, it is the promise. Remember this is someone who is going to resolve a dispute between two people.”
The ULS has sent 24 names to the JSC of individuals it is backing for appointment. “At the end of the day, we want judges who are true to the law and the facts,” he said.
