Complaints Against The Approval of Persons nominated For Appointment as Judicial Officers By The President

Thursday, 15th February 2018

Complaints against the approval of persons nominated for

appointment as Judicial O!cers by the President

Early this month, the President nominated 14 persons to be appointed to the

positions of Justices of Appeal and Judges of the High Court. Of the 14

persons nominated, four Justices were for the Court of Appeal and 10 for the

High Court.

As required by the Constitution, the list of the nominees was forwarded to

the Speaker of the Parliament of Uganda for approval.

The Appointments Committee, chaired by the Rt. Hon. Speaker of Parliament

Rebecca Kadaga, sat on Wednesday, 14th February and Thursday, 15th

February 2018 to consider the nominees.

Parliament, however, received complaints against /ve nominees, that is,

Justice Stephen Musota and Justice Christopher Madrama, nominated for
appointment as Justices of Appeal. The others were His Worship Paul

Gadenya, His Worship Alex Ajiji and His Worship Asiimwe Tadeo, nominated

for appointment as Judges of the High Court.

Upon receipt of the complaints, the O4ce of the Speaker set out to

investigate the matter. It should be noted that the complainants stated that

they had /led their grievances with the Judicial Service Commission and

therefore the Appointments Committee consulted the Commission on their

handling of the various matters complained of.

The complainants against the judicial o4cers included: Mr. Kercan Prosper, a

Grade II Magistrate, who complained about his administrative transfer from

Nabweru Court to Kiboga. He said his transfer was malicious and intended to

frustrate his pursuit of a masters degree. JSC noted that the Magistrate had

not formally informed his employer that he was pursuing a course of study.

The complainant was transferred due to the many complaints against him at

the court that included land disputes.

A one Male Mabirizi complained of being prevented from sitting at the Bar

while defending himself in a matter. JSC said the complainant is not an

advocate of the High Court and therefore has no right to sit at the Bar. It was

also noted that Mr. Mabirizi appears to be a serial complainant against the

Judiciary and other organs whenever decisions don’t go his way.

Other complaints forwarded to the JSC didn’t have substance to be formally

entertained.

NoThe Appointments Committee established that all the complaints /led with

the Judicial Service Commission had no merit and proceeded to vet them.

The report on the Committee’s interaction with the nominees will be sent to

the President as required by the Rules of Procedure of Parliament.

No Result