It is alleged that Retired former chairperson of the Judicial Service Commission Justice James Ogoola always gave President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni a hard time when it came to appointing judicial officers from the High Court to the Supreme Court because he always gave him very few options to choose from when recommending to him names of people fit for the vacant positions in the judiciary .
A story is told when Museveni as the appointing authority was at odds with Justice Ogoola when it came to filling the vacant position of the Chief Justice after the retirement of Justice Benjamin Odoki after he sent him only the name of Justice Bart Magunda Katurebe as the only suitable person to take over the position.
Highly placed sources in State House told TV10GanoMazima that when Justice Kabito was appointed the head the Judicial Service Commission, Museveni complained and told him not to recommend to him names of people to be appointed judges without giving him options since he has to consider a number of factors like; region, religion, gender and experience among others when deciding on who to choose.
Sources said that Kabito obliged with the old man’s observation and started recommending more numbers to him as suitable candidates for judicial positions.
For example, during the replacement of Justice Katureebe who was going into retirement, Kabito recommended Justice Alfonse Chigamoy Owiny-Dollo who then was the then Deputy Chief Justice and also Court of Appeal and Constitutional Court Justice Justice Richard Butera and Justice Esther Kisakye Kitimbo who were both Justices of the Supreme Court.
Museveni surprised the country when he appointed Justice Dollo as the new chief justice and Justice Butera as his deputy since he had options to choose from.
However, some lawyers protested the announcement claiming that it was illegal because Justice Butera never applied for the position of the Deputy Chief Justice.
Even though Justice Kabito has been recommending to the appointing authority more than two names of candidates for a single position, there are judicial officers who have been complaining that the Judicial Service Commission is suffocating them while favouring others.
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Justice Solome Balungi Bbosa recently complained that the Judicial Service Commission frustrated her dream of becoming the Chief Justice of Uganda. However, she was remembered by President Museveni when he supported her to become the Justice of the International Court of Justice.
Sources close to Justice Catherine Bamugemereire allege that she is another Justice whose promotion has been frustrated by Judicial Service Commission in connivance with top judicial officers in the judiciary.
Highly placed State House sources said that during the recent promotion of justices from the Court of Appeal to Supreme Court, Museveni wondered why Bamugemereire was not on the list.
He himself made a phone call to Bamugemereire asking her why she didn’t apply for the position.
Sources disclosed that when the Judicial Service Commission made an advertisement for the promotion, she applied.
She informed the President that she even applied for the position of the deputy chief justice but her name was not put on the final list which was sent to the President for consideration.
Sources assert that when Nobert Mao the Justice and Constitutional minister briefed the president on how the Supreme Court is failing to conduct business because of the absence of Justices to make quorum; after two justices Opio Aweri, Stellah Arach Amoko died and others retired and some went on sick leave including the Chief Justice, Mao was trying to compromise the big man from Rwakitura to support his bid in parliament to increase the number of justices at the Supreme Court.
Museveni declined to support Mao’s prayer and only told him that he is going to appoint new justices to replace those who died.
Justice Kabito was later surprised to see a letter from the president appointing Justice Bamugemereire and Justice Monica Mugenyi who were at the Court of Appeal elevating them to Supreme Court.
Sources at the Judicial Service Commission were very sure that Museveni is going to either appoint Justice Geoffrey Kiryabwire who has been the deputy president of the East African Court or Justice Barishaki Bonny Cheborion who is also a Judge at the East African Court because their names were already on the president’s desk.
Sources said that Museveni likes Justice Mugenyi because she is a wife to one of his comrades who he fought with in the Luwero liberation war and she is sober and hardworking woman when it comes to fighting corruption in his government.
Museveni supported Mugenyi to be appointed judge of the East African Court and when her tenure expired, she was appointed Justices of the Court of Appeal.
She is remembered for handling the high level case against Lydia Draru who was convicted on charges of manslaughter for causing the death of Former UPDF Commander Maj. Gen. James Kazini.
Because of her tough stance when it comes to delivering justice, Judiciary insiders have intimated to TV10GanoMazima that Justice Bamugemereire is one of the most hated Justices in the Judiciary and fellow judges and politicians have been trying to place her in the bad light including dragging her in corruption scandals.
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State Minister for Urban Development Persis Namuganza tried to connect Bamugemereire with Lusanja eviction when she was chairing the Land Probe investigating the mismanagement of land issues in the country.
Bamugemereire was investigating Namuganza and other government officials on allegations of grabbing people’s land.
Bamugemereire’s commission exposed judicial officers who help land grabbers to take public and people’s private land and many were privately grilled in the absence of journalists.
Publicly, the then Chief Justice Katureebe attacked Bamugemereire claiming that she was cutting the branch of the tree she was sitting on when she started summoning judicial officers to appear before her commission over their involvement in land wrangles.
Lawyers like Caleb Alaka and others secured Court orders aiming at taming the activities of the commission especially on the matters which top judicial officers had an interest in.
Museveni also appointed Bamugemereire to head the probe against Lukwago’s incompetency and recommended Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago’s impeachment in 2013.
She also chaired the Uganda National Roads Authority (UNRA) Probe.
Justices and Judges have been protesting Bamugemereire’s frequent appointments to head Commissions of Inquiries claiming that she is favoured and pampered.
Others got aggrieved that Bamugemereire was pocketing a lot of money from chairing such Commissions.
It is alleged that some of these aggrieved officers were behind the move by a section of lawyers who were planning to petition the Constitution Court to declare that once a judge is appointed to chair a commission of inquiry, he or she should stop getting salary from the judiciary until he returns back to her/his chambers.
