Justice Musa Ssekaana, the controversial Court of Appeal judge and Uganda Human Rights Commission chairperson Hon. Mariam Wangadya have all of a sudden become house hold names for online blogs known for negative publicity against prominent Ugandans. Our sources in the corridors of power have revealed the likely reason why all of a sudden the said media are interested in those two, but particularly Wangadya.
It is said there has been an ongoing lobbying from different legal gurus to be appointed to the office of the Deputy Chief Justice, ever since the bearer Dr. Flavian Zeija was elevated to the position of Chief Justice.
The Judicial Service Commission through its Permanent Secretary Dr. Rose Nassali Lukwago announced that the process of looking for the suitable Ugandan to be appointed to the said office had kicked off.
It is said lobbying from different actors is in high gear as senior judicial officers and private lawyers are fighting for the juicy job. Even though Justice Ssekaana and Wangadya have not publicly expressed interest, sources say, they are among the top suitable contenders.
Highly placed State House sources reveled to this website that Muslim leaders both at Uganda Muslim Supreme Council and the Kibuli based Supreme Mufti leadership are intensely lobbying that the job be awarded to a Muslim lawyer.
However, the president’s stand is on a lawyer who is not corrupt and the problem he is facing with appointing career judicial officer is that most of them have been mentioned in corruption intelligence reports.
Wangadya being a former deputy Inspector General of Government (IGG) and also chairperson of the country’s human rights watchdog is has an upper hand especially given the fact that the president is looking for a person to clean the judiciary.
This set in mortion a series of plots to discret her, including the recent purported whistle-blowers’ report which for the past three weeks was being peddled by a single online media house. It is said the said report was filed at the IGG’s office, State House Anti-Corruption Unit and Police’s Criminal Investigation Department asking them to carry out investigations against her and has been circulated to different online media houses with a lot of passion though most of them have preferred to wait until action is taken by the investigating bodies.
Why Wangadya?
Sources revealed that apart from her being a muslim lawyer, Wangadya is workholic. She has almost single-handedly improved the rate at which decisions of the Uganda Human Rights Commission Tribunal are delivered. She does an average of 20 decisions in a two-day sitting yet at the court of appeal level, Justices are required to deliver 20 in a quarter of four months or as and when sessions are fixed.
Talk from the corridors of power indicate that the president this time round prefers a female DCJ after comparing the tenures of former DCJs like Justice Alice Mpagi Bahegeine and Justice Constance Btamugisha. It is said during the two tenures, Jurisprudance of Uganda’s Appelate courts was stronger and used to attract citations from International courts unlike when the DCJs have been male. Analysts also blame the Male DCJs for having widened the gap between the Bar and the Bench (lawyers and judges) to the extent that for the first time in Museveni’s 40-year leadership, a President of Uganda Law Society was exiled. Critics attribute this to the uncompromising nature of men and ego thus the need to balance the power at the helm of the judiciary with a female gender.
It is also alleged that some of the people behind the plot want to revenge on Wangadya who is remembered to have leaked corruption syndicates in Parliament especially during the process of budget making to the president which resulted into the arrest of a number of legislators including Lwengo district Woman Member of Parliament Cissy Namujju, Paul Akampa and others. Others are her own members of the Commission and staff envious about the ease with which she gets the attention of the President.
Wangadya testified against the accused persons and narrated how the deal that led to their arrest was planned with the president, but the criminal charges were withdrawn and the accused persons set free which placed Museveni’s government in bad light in terms of fighting corruption.
Justice Ssekaana
From the time he headed the Civil Regustry at the High Court, all indications were rife that Justice Ssekaana was destined for bigger things. In fact most people, especially the Muslim community were already bracing themselves for the first-ever Muslim Chief Justice. However, detractors started on him making felocious complaints and leaking unsolicited negative reports to the appointng authority and the Judicial Service Commission (JSC). Sources at this Dr. Dauglas Singiza Commission revealed to this website that a number of the said complaints filed against him have been scheduled for expedicious hearing before the conclusion of the process of getting the next deputy chief justice.
Sources added that although some Muslim leaders are lobbying for a Muslim to take the job, Kibuli Muslim leadership are not happy with Ssekaana on grounds that he declined to recuse himself from the court case involving Juma Zukuli after they accused him of being biased.
Titular Muslim leader Sheikh Dr Prince Dr Kassim Nakibinge Kakungulu who played a central role in lobbying for Ssekaana to be appointed a High Court judge in 2018 is not happy with Ssekaana’s biased decision which resulted into imprisoning Sheikh Khalifa Lutaaya and Sheikh Hassan Kinene on contempt of court charges.
He is also dicredited for being intolerant to those who criticise him on social media and often going personal with lawyers during court hearings.
President Museveni on several occasions has been appointing the deputy chief justices from justices of the Supreme Court.
Others are Justice Geoffrey Kiryabwire, Justice Barishaki Cheborion, Justice Egonda-Ntende all of the Court of Appeal.
The Deputy Chief Justice is the head of the Court of Appeal which also doubles as the Constitutional Court, and to apply for the job, one has to be with Bachelor’s degree in law, a judge, of the Court of Appeal or Supreme Court or High Court.
Advocates who have practiced for fifteen years are also suitable to apply for the job and according to sources, the president is set to appoint the Deputy Chief Justice before he swears-in the next term of office because he doesn’t want any vacuum in his government and it is the reason why he directed that local village leadership to be elected before May 2026.
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