STRANGE BUT TRUE: Female Judge Floors Kadaga As JSC And Law Society Side With Justice Faridah Bukirwa

Riding on the earlier position taken by the Uganda Law Society President, Ugandan lawyers practicing under the Jinja & Iganga circuits of the High Court have written to the President imploring him to consider regularising Justice Faridah Shamilah Bukirwa’s appointment as a substantive Judge of the High Court of Uganda.

For 2 years, Bukirwa served as one of the Judges at the High Court in Jinja having initially been one of the 16 eminent legal brains the President had (in 2022) appointed in the capacity of Acting Judges of the High Court. The President in August this year, on the advise of the Judicial Service Commission, confirmed all of them to become substantive Judges of the High Court with exception of Bukirwa.

The President came under pressure after being petitioned by leaders of the Old Kampala-based faction of Uganda Muslim leadership. They were concerned that Bukirwa’s decision to authorise the ouster of Mufti Shaban Mubajje was insensitive and risked causing chaos in the country.

Ex-Speaker Rebecca Kadaga, who is a Deputy Prime Minister and number 3 in the ruling NRM national hierarchy, had also separately complained about Justice Bukirwa’s assertiveness and refusal to be politically pushed around. Otherwise, the JSC had found Bukirwa suitable and recommended the regularisation of her appointment as a High Court Judge along with the other 15 Ag Judges.

In their petitioned, signed by more than 40 practicing lawyers under the Jinja and Iganga circuits, the Busoga-based lawyers assert that Bukirwa did nothing wrong because she merely independently exercised her mandate as a Judge as opposed to being swayed by any other considerations.

In their petition, the Busoga-based lawyers (led by their area ULS chairman Joshua Agape Batwala) make it clear that for being so assertive and independent-minded, Bukirwa deserved commendation as opposed to being sanctioned without complying with the procedural requirements laid out under Article 144 of the Constitution.

They state that Bukirwa was a professional and hardworking Judge who deliberately worked towards eliminating or diminishing case backlog at the Jinja Court which is one way through which public confidence can be increased in the Ugandan Judiciary. That her hardwork manifested in being able to complete 1,650 cases in the 24 months she served as Ag Judge at the Jinja High Court.

This record number of cases includes the one involving a total of 3,435 ex-NYTIL employees whose terminal benefits had remained unpaid for more than 28 years counting from 1995 when their employment with the GoU ceased. Justice Bukirwa heard their case and awarded them billions of shillings in damages against the GoU.

Such human interest cases Bukirwa diligently presided over, impacting so many people, explain why thousands of Basogas recently demonstrated support for her during the recent open Court day in Jinja which was attended by the PJ and other eminent Judiciary officials.

In their petition, the Busoga-based lawyers add that the dedication and professionalism with which she approached work at Jinja High Court made Bukirwa “exceptionally suitable” for the position of substantive Judge of the High Court.

That letting her go even when she hasn’t done anything wrong nor committed any acts of professional misconduct is a very big loss to Court users under the Jinja/Iganga circuits, the entire Judiciary and the country at large.

Through copying the same petition to her, the Busoga-based lawyers also implore the JSC Permanent Secretary Dr. Rose Nassali Lukwago to urgently cause the Commission to write to the President strongly recommending the regularisation of Bukirwa’s employment as a High Court Judge.

The three page petition is copied to the Principal Judge, Chief Justice, Deputy Chief Justice, the ULS President and Justice Minister Norbert Mao who last week addressed the JLOS Annual Performance Review Conference at Speke Resort Munyonyo where he unequivocally called for Bukirwa’s reinstatement as a substantive Judge of the High Court on grounds that there is nothing wrong she did. Mao suggested that instead of Muslim leaders and Basoga sub region leaders like Rebecca Kadaga complaining to the President, they should simply have challenged Justice Bukirwa’s decisions by appealing to Court of Appeal.

The Busoga-based ULS members also claim that Bukirwa’s high performance was unanimously acknowledged and accepted by all area legal practitioners and Court users late last year when she was voted the sub region’s “outstanding judicial officer of the year” for 2023.

Her award of recognition was handed over publicly during the ULS Jinja and Iganga Court Circuits Law dinner that was held in Jinja on 8th December 2023. Advocate Batwala clarifies that this was in recognition of the exceptional legal acumen, impartiality and professionalism which Justice Bukirwa had exhibited while serving as a High Court Judge at Jinja.

In a separate public statement, the ULS Secretariat in Kampala protested the dropping of Bukirwa which they termed “arbitrary removal of Judge.” The ULS Secretariat statement made it clear that Bukirwa is not an angel and asserted that if she had indeed committed any wrong, the ouster grounds as articulated under Article 144(2) of the Constitution ought to have been followed and complied with.

The statement demanded for the politically impartial judicial disciplinary process to be followed if Bukirwa or any other Judge had to be ousted from office. The same statement castigated the Principal Judge for acting unilaterally and demanded that his 8th August 2024 letter forcing Bukirwa out of office be rescinded and recalled.

That the circumstances of Bukirwa’s removal don’t speak of an impartial and independent Judiciary that is envisaged in the Constitution. Mao made exactly the same argument during the Review meeting at Munyonyo.

The ULS statement was followed by several petitions to the PJ’s office by concerned citizens including one from a one Prosper Ahabwe who demanded to know why the PJ didn’t comply with the removal procedure as laid out under Article 144(2)(3)(4) of the Constitution. There is also another petition to the President by hundreds of ordinary Court users in Jinja who were led by a Court assessor by the names of Edith Nantongo Tibenkana.

MUSLIM LAWYERS MAKE THEIR VOICE HEARD TOO:
In a related development, hundreds of lawyers uniting under Uganda Muslim Lawyers Association (UMLA) have also registered their solidarity with the much-persecutted Justice Bukirwa.

In their petition to the Judiciary leadership, the Ali Kankaka-led UMLA members assert that it’s a shame that all the 15 Ag Judges (except Bukirwa) got their instrument of appointment confirming them as substantive Judges of the High Court.

They celebrate Dr. Kabumba Busingye and Andrew Karamagi who dragged the AG to the Constitutional Court challenging appointment and designation of Judicial officers as Ag Judges.

To them, there was simply no way Bukirwa could be legally removed from office without following the procedure laid down in the Constitution under Article 144. That Bukirwa was appointed by the President on the advice of the JSC as is well stipulated and required under the Constitution.

That she was also approved by Parliament; implying that there was no way anyone could legally remove her without complying with Article 144 which requires clear grounds for removal of a Judicial officer. In Bukirwa’s case, no such ground was ever cited or proved!

The Muslim lawyers demand that the Supreme Court quickly concludes the processing of the AG’s appeal challenging what the Constitutional Court ruled under the Kabumba Busingye and Andrew Karamagi petition. They also demand that no one ever gets appointed to serve as Ag Judge because the same is contrary to the Constitution and violates the independence of the Judiciary.

The Muslim lawyers also make it clear that there is no way the PJ could decree Faridah Bukirwa’s removal without first hearing from either Parliament or the JSC. The Muslim lawyers also call on the Judiciary top leadership to reflect on the fact that all petitions or complaints against Justice Bukirwa were made post her appointment to the bench, which means the only way her removal would be lawful would be by referring to the provisions of Article 144 of the Constitution.

FLOORING KADAGA:
All these very exonerating developments are becoming public after the Judicial Service Commission inquired into all the complaints key Busoga sub region kingmaker Rebecca Kadaga had made against Justice Bukirwa. The Commission, in writing, dismissed all the Kadaga claims for lack of merit.

The Kamuli woman MP had complained about the circumstances under which Justice Bukirwa granted bail to Anthony Ngobi and ordered the return of his vehicle after he had been involved in a dispute with people at the former Speaker’s Century Hotel in Kamuli.

She had also accused Bukirwa of bias and abusing her authority as a High Court Judge. Minister Mao has since advised the President to require such aggrieved Ministers of his to appeal to higher courts as opposed to petitioning him politically as the head of state, in case they are dissatisfied with any decisions of Court.

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