Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Security agencies are killing and abducting men in north-east Kenya who they suspect of links to Islamist extremists, a rights group said Wednesday. Human Rights Watch (HRW) documented 34 “enforced disappearances” and 11 suspected “extrajudicial killings” over two years in Garissa, Mandera and Wajir counties …
Read More »FDC wants Kavuma out of Besigye’s defiance case
NBS: The opposition Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) has called for the withdrawal of Deputy Chief Justice Steven Kavuma from the defiance petition hearing currently before the Constitutional Court. The party says Justice Kavuma is an NRM Cadre and it doubts his credibility in leading the panel of justices hearing …
Read More »Legal brains commend Chief Justice Bart Katurebe on Besigye case
NBS: The legal fraternity has commended Chief justice Bart Katurebe on what is described as an impartial stand in the Dr. Kiza Besigye trial. Justice Katurebe recently wrote to the Uganda law society over concerns that some judicial officers were not neutral in as far as this case was concerned. …
Read More »`The constitution shouldn’t be something we have, it should be something we are’
Francis Gimara is the newly elected President of Uganda Law Society (ULS). He spoke to The Independent’s Agnes E Nantaba about the rule of law and constitutionalism in Uganda and about his vision for ULS under his leadership. As the newly elected president of Uganda Law Society, what are your …
Read More »Habre, African leaders and justice
Dakar, Senegal | AFP | A special court in Senegal sentenced former Chadian dictator Hissene Habre to life in jail Monday for war crimes and crimes against humanity, an unprecedented conviction seen as a warning to repressive rulers worldwide. The verdict brings long-awaited closure for relatives of the up to …
Read More »KK: Born for the bar
INTERVIEW: Kiryowa Kiwanuka Nsumikambi Mugambe lives his dream In legal practice, the only thing you have is your name. Kiryowa Kiwanuka is a big name. At 43 years, he has had some of the highest profile cases even though he has been in private legal practice for only 15 years. …
Read More »Prof. Kanyeihamba on mockery of law and justice in election petitions
In chapter 39 of his book titled `The Blessings and Joy of Being who you are” retired former Supreme Court Justice George K. Kanyeihamba writes about “the struggle to maintain the independence and impartiality of the judiciary in Uganda”. We reproduce excerpts of that chapter titled `Unacceptable acts and behaviour …
Read More »NRM circus or justice?
By Haggai Matsiko Mbabazi case exposes lawyers, judges John Mary Mugisha aka JMM as his colleagues in legal practice call him, is a hulk of a man. Combine that with his grandiloquence and expertise in civil litigation and it is obvious why he has won many top cases. But on …
Read More »Unjust African justice
By Aryeh Neier Granted the continent’s leaders immunity for their crimes, probably unravels two decades of progress At its recent summit meeting in Equatorial Guinea, the African Union formalised its decision to expand the jurisdiction of the African Court of Justice and Human Rights to include international crimes, such as …
Read More »A cry for justice
By Achola Rosario A poor girl’s struggles to get justice against her rich, powerful abusers Six months ago, a 23-year-old waitress was approached by a Pakistani man in the bar where she worked. Work as a bar waitress was the only job Zaina could get at the time, considering that …
Read More »