By Mulengera Reporters
In his key note address at Uganda Christian Lawyers Fraternity (UCLF) AGM at Hotel Africana on Friday, Justice & Constitutional Affairs Minister Norbert Mao revealed that he was praying hard day and night with a lot of faith in God that one-day genuine reconciliation is going to be achieved between Isaac Ssemakadde-led Uganda Law Society on one hand and the Alfonse Owiny Dollo-led Judiciary on the other.
Mao said it was unacceptable for the Judiciary bosses to keep preaching mediation and other forms of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) yet at the same time fail to reconcile and bury hatchet with Isaac Ssemakadde, the ULS President who continues to live in exile of some sort after his quarrels with the Judiciary leaders escalated resulting into Justice Musa Ssekaana finding him guilty of contempt of court and going on to sentence him to a prison sentence of two years.
Mao equally said he was praying hard to see de-escalation of the war between Ssemakadde on one hand and the Attorney General Kiwanuka Kiryowa on the other. He thanked senior Judiciary figures like the outgoing DCJ Richard Buteera for expressing willingness to help mediate between Ssemakadde and his adversaries both on the bench and at the AG chambers.
Mao also said he intended to approach Prof Fredrick Ssempebwa and plead with him to agree to play the role of chief mediator between Isaac Ssemakadde and his tormentors on the bench and at the AG chambers. Mao said he had also equally engaged and spoken to Justice Ssekaana and Dollo himself clearly insisting that they must diminish their anger and agree to have de-escalation of tensions between them and Ssemakadde.
Mao admitted that it’s not easy to like a rubble-rousing legal rebel like Ssemakadde but insisted there must be de-escalation as a matter of necessity because the ongoing tensions only weaken Uganda’s justice system as opposed to strengthening it. Mao implored Dollo to reflect on the priorities of Pepperdine University in the US which has invested a lot of effort and resources in popularization of ADR mechanism as a way of deescalating conflicts in Uganda.
Dollo has been a beneficiary of capacity building and training opportunities coming through the Pepperdine relationship, which Mao says is the reason why he must practice what he has been preaching by making a de-escalation deal with Isaac Ssemakadde.
Speaking on Friday to hundreds of UCLF members, whose new leaders were unveiled to replace an executive board which for the last two years has been headed by DIGG Ann Muhairwe deputized by DIGG Dr. Patricia Achan Okiria as VP, Mao said that as Christians they should amplify his efforts at de-escalation because as true believers, they are obliged to work towards peaceful resolution of conflicts.
Mao asked Uganda Christian Lawyers Fraternity members to act as catalysts to the de-escalation process he has instigated to ensure that the public quarreling between Ssemakadde and the Judiciary or the AG stops. Mao proposed that the outgoing UCLF President Ann Muhairwe writes a newspaper article titled “I love Isaac Ssemakadde.”
Sarcastic as always, Mao suggested that such an article can be used to flatter Ssemakadde and make him feel good about life. He didn’t rule out the possibility of Ssemakadde responding by declaring war on UCLF members or even adding them on the list of his enemies who have to be character assassinated on social media by adherents of his new radical bar.
At the same event at Hotel Africana in Kampala, Ann Muhairwe handed over office of UCLF President after serving one two-year term. She was replaced by Makerere Commercial law don Prof Anthony CK Kakooza. Dr. Patricia Achan Okiria, a fellow Deputy IGG at the Inspectorate, had been Vice President deputizing Ann Muhairwe.
Arthur Ayorekire will be the Vice President deputising Kakooza who got the position unopposed and also previously served as Faculty of Law dean at UCU. All the others were unopposed and got the positions through consensus. Justice Geoffrey Kiryabwire will be serving on the UCLF executive board besides others like Marion Ben Bellla (a prosecutor at ODPP), Ms Winnie Walakira and Ms Barbra Kitui who will be serving as General Secretary for the UCLF for the next two years.
Counsel Albert Collins Kyeyune will be serving as the Treasurer for Uganda Christian Lawyers Fraternity which was founded by the likes Charles Owor, Mike Chibita, Jalia Ssebutinde, Dorothy Kisaka and others in 1997. It currently boosts of roughly 300 lawyers with fully paid up membership. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
