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

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• 

  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.