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By Mulengera Reporters
The soon-retiring Court of Appeal Judge, Dr. Fredrick Steven Martins Egonda Ntende used the Thursday session the Ugandan judiciary leadership organized to celebrate his accomplishments and see him off (having clocked 70), to call upon fellow Judicial Officers to stop their cowardice and stand firm while speaking truth to power.
Ntende, who a delegation from Makerere’s School of Law which was led by Dr. Robert Kirunda agreed with Justice Cheborion Barishaki in describing as ‘a Chief Justice Uganda ought to have had but never had,’ observed that the required level of courage by individual judicial officers is achievable once each one of them puts Godliness over and above all their respective fears.
Egonda-Ntende, in whose honor a luncheon was had at the Judiciary headquarters, made reference to violation of personal liberties which has become normalized in contemporary Uganda where judicial officers have willfully availed themselves to be used as enablers, aiding the mighty in the state violate the human rights and personal freedoms of their political opponents.
He made reference to the circumstances under which the orphaned children of jailed NUP spokesperson Alex Waisswa Mufumbiro found themselves living with the trauma of having to bury their mum (Edith Katende) who succumbed to breast cancer, without having to count and thrive on the support of their other surviving parent. He described it as inhuman for the lower bench judicial officers to cheerfully aid the state to keep Mufumbiro in controversial detention over what he called a minor offence.
Egonda-Ntende reflected on the fact that the mandatory period after which the grant of bail becomes mandatory had long been exceeded in the Mufumbiro’s case but still the judicial officers continued acting with extreme indifference and didn’t feel obliged to let him go.
He never mentioned Mufumbiro by name but explained how he, like any other Ugandan, had watched news and taken note of the fact that such young orphans had to bury their young mum in the absence of their only surviving parent. He implied there was need for courage for the concerned judicial officers to have felt that sense of duty and obligation and gone ahead to release the grieving husband to go and be with his children as their mum was being laid to rest.
He said he considers Mufumbiro’s case minor because his alleged acts didn’t result into loss of property, life or reputation of anyone. He observed these are merely “obscure, unproved charges” which can’t justify deprivation of the accused person’s personal liberty and other attendant violations Mufumbiro has endured. “Team Judiciary, I’m here to ask us to reflect on the question-which society treats its children like this?” rhetorically asked Egonda Ntende who fellow Judges and other speakers celebrated to have been a fearless judicial officer who was always guided by desire to do what is right and just before God and man. He always enforced the law as is regardless of the risks the same would occasion unto him.
He called on colleagues who he is leaving behind on the bench “to stand firm” and “let nothing move you; give yourself to the work of the Lord and that way, you will never work in vain.” He implored them to always seek God’s guidance and protection whenever required to pronounce themselves on “what is not true, not noble, not right, not pure, not lovely and not admirable.”
He then made reference to the courage with which Chief Justice Emeritus Wako Wambuzi, who was in the audience, fearlessly led the Judiciary for 30 years, including during the time when the much-dreaded Idi Amin was President. He told a story of His Worship Kityo who was Buganda Road Court Chief Magistrate at the time President Amin demanded that the judiciary jails women caught wearing mini-skirts. This was something Idi Amin was very passionate about and wanted offenders ruthlessly punished.
Without antagonizing those holding those same offices today, Egonda Ntende praised Wambuzi who was CJ, Godfrey Lule who was the Attorney General and Kityo for the courage with which they took on and faced Amin on that matter. That Wambuzi implored Lule to organize a meeting for him to meet and explain to Amin who was both President and Legislature at that time since Parliament had been abolished.
Amin had complained about Kityo’s stubbornness which saw the Buganda Road Chief Magistrate repeatedly release women caught wearing miniskirts on the streets of Kampala because there was simply no law to lock them up the way the President wanted. Amin was angry and it was clear Kaityo’s days weren’t going to be many because the state considered his behavior defiant and provocative.
As his supervisor, Wambuzi felt the Magistrate was right and felt obliged to shield him against threats from the President. That is why Wambuzi drove to the AG’s chambers and convinced Godfrey Lule to quickly organize a meeting for him. The duo went and met Amin. Egonda Ntende revealed how Wako Wambuzi, shielded by Godfrey Lule, fearlessly, firmly and respectfully explained to the President about the applicability of the doctrine of separation of powers even when Uganda didn’t have a legislature as of that time. Wambuzi informed Amin that its true he was a very powerful President but sanctioning an offending judicial like Kityo was under the jurisdiction of the Chief Justice and not the President.
Lule and Wambuzi got Amin to understand that there was need for him to enact a law under which conscience-conflicted judicial officers like Kityo could act as required-and that exactly is what Idi Amin did. He enacted a law to achieve his desired outcomes. Egonda Ntende, who got a standing ovation at the end of his brief remarks, turned to face his audience (which mainly comprised of fellow judges and bar members) and politely asked them: “Team Judiciary, what happened? Where is your Kityo and Wambuzi at this hour?”
He reiterated there was need to stand firm so that no one ever succeeds moving judicial officers into constraining enjoyment of rights and detaining people outside legal provisions.
Besides ex-ULS President James Sebugenyi, Dr. Kirunda and Justice Cheborion, Court of Appeal Judge Hellen Obura also spoke and celebrated Egonda Ntende for mentoring junior colleagues at the bench and also for his personal contribution towards automation of access to judicial services by both lawyers and litigants.
He is the man who enabled the establishment of Uganda Legal Information Institute (ULII), which is an online platform through which legal materials are freely accessible 24/7. He was also the brain behind ECMIS which enables lawyers and other court users to file their pleadings and serve court processes electronically without having to physically leave their offices.
Humility-filled as always, Egonda Ntende demanded that credit must go to his wife Margaret who introduced him and other family members to the computer as early as the early 1990s. Margaret, who personally cajoled Egonda Ntende into accepting to quit his lucrative private legal practice in 1991 and accept to become a Judge which he didn’t like because of poor pay, was working with UNICEF and for many years was the chief provider for the family as her husband endured poor pay. He will be retiring to his farm in Jinja from where the judiciary colleagues he is leaving behind promised to be consulting him from time to time.
Supreme Court’s Christopher Madrama, who secured special permission from Justice Geoffrey Kiryabwire who was chairing the special sitting to be able to talk about the man he repeatedly referred to as ‘my brother,’ repeatedly broke down crying having been overcome by emotions as he paid tribute to Egonda Ntende and was unable to complete his submission.
Egonda-Ntende, who excelled doing legal work outside his country Uganda as systems in fairer jurisdictions repeatedly gave him a platform to shine, peripherally responded to observations by earlier speakers that he deserved to be CJ for Uganda in his judicial career.
Veiledly referencing the apparent injustices he endured in his 35 years of judicial career, Egonda Ntende recalled being the longest-serving Ugandan judge at the High Court where he controversially stagnated for many years before subsequently being elevated to Court of Appeal where he said he equally stagnated and was proud to retire with the title of being ‘the second longest-serving’ justice of the same court. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
