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Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has appointed Dr Flavian Zeija Chief Justice to take over from Justice Alfonse Owiny-Dollo Chigamoy who has retired. The Parliament of Uganda has also confirmed it has completed vetting Dr Flavian Zeija.
State House on Thursday in a statement confirmed that “In exercise of the power of the President by article 142(1) of the 1995 constitution and acting on the advice of the Judicial Services Commission, H.E. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has appointed Hon. Justice Flavian Zeija as the Chief Justice of the Republic of Uganda”
It explained that the appointment follows the submission of Justice Zeija’s name to the Parliament of Uganda for approval, which Parliament duly granted in accordance with the constitution. It is reported that the Judicial Service Commission had forwarded Justice Izama Madrama, Mike Chibita, and Flavian Zeija as the successful candidates for the job and recommended that the President select among the three.
The nomination comes barely four days after the former Chief Justice Alfonse Owiny-Dollo Chigamoy retired from the judiciary after clocking the mandatory 70 years of age.
Owiny-Dollo handed over the office to Zeija, noting that the law requires the outgoing Chief Justice to hand over to his deputy if a new substantive Chief Justice hasn’t yet been appointed by the President.
In this case, Dr Zeija has been the acting chief justice since Monday afternoon when Owiny-Dollo handed over office.
Sources also said that another handover happened yesterday without the media at the Judiciary headquarters after the one for Monday was reportedly done hurriedly so as to avoid public criticism of the delayed handover.
The appointment of Dr Zeija comes as a surprise to many in the judiciary as well as the Judicial Service Commission.
When the news first broke yesterday, the Permanent Secretary to the Judiciary, Dr Rose Nassali, told our reporter that she wasn’t aware of the appointment yesterday, as she was not in office.
She said she was reportedly away attending the burial arrangements for the former Minister for Education, Geraldine Namirembe Bitamazire. The sources in the judiciary also indicated that they learnt about the appointment of Dr Zeija via the Parliament Website.
Judicial Service Commission is the body in charge of appointing and regulating the conduct of the judicial officers.
They have the mandate to carry out the job advertising, shortlisting of the successful candidates for that job.
Dr Zeija has risen to the position of the Chief Justice swiftly, having spent less than a year as the Deputy Chief Justice.
He had been appointed as the Deputy Chief Justice on February 7th, 2025, a position he has had since then, when he replaced the Deputy Chief Justice Emeritus Richard Buteera.
Before this, he was the Principal Judge and was succeeded by Lady Justice Jane Okuo Kajuga in an acting capacity for nearly a year, until last month when Museveni appointed former Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Lady Justice Jane Okuo Kajuga as the substantive Principal Judge.
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