COMMENT: By Bob Kasango The traditional court system must examine itself over the rise of courts of public opinion Each week in Uganda is eventful and a new word or phrase takes centre stage. Weeks back it was “bailout”, last week it was “cows and goats”, this week ended with “mobs …
Read More »10 years on, Ivory Coast toxic waste clean-up ‘not complete’
Abidjan, Ivory Coast | AFP | Ten years after an international oil-trader dumped 500 tonnes of toxic waste in Ivory Coast, killing 17 people and harming 100,000, the stench remains, though the compensation is unpaid. A decade on, Ivorians “still complain of the smell from the waste when it rains …
Read More »Kenya security accused of murder and abduction: report
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 …
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