By Mulengera Reporters
When he appeared for the Saturday online interview that lasted 8 hours, exiled Uganda Law Society President Isaac Ssemakadde sounded unrepentant and not sorry about his mistakes and provocative utterances which last month saw Justice Musa Ssekaana convict him for contempt of court and going on to sentence him to a prison term of two years.
Hosted by activist Shallon Kihembo, the online conversation had thousands getting tuned and Ssemakadde pronounce himself on many things. He rarely grants media interviews and he said this is deliberate. He gave reasons too why he despises so-called TV show hosts and gave the example of NBS’ Simon Njala Kaggwa who he said is an agent of the deep state and is full of self-importance. He warned Njala against having vendetta on him merely because he refused to appear on his show.
He also responded to what Justice Minister Norbert Mao suggested as he addressed guests at the Uganda Christian Lawyers Fraternity (UCLF)’s AGM Friday at Hotel Africana where Deputy IGG Ann Muhairwe handed over the Association Presidency to Makerere Law School’s Prof Anthony Kakooza. Details can be seen here https://mulengeranews.com/mao-dares-dollo-to-practice-what-he-has-been-preaching-by-reconciling-the-bench-with-ssemakadde-led-radical-bar-as-prof-kakooza-replaces-muhairwe-as-uganda-christian-lawyers-fraternity-president/>
Mao proposed mediation and other alternative dispute resolution (ADR) mechanisms to deescalate things and resolve the quarreling between the Ssemakadde-led ULS on one hand and the Chief Justice Alfonse Owiny Dollo-led Judiciary bosses on the other. Mao said it would shameful for Dollo, who has prioritized ADR, to fail to get himself and other Judges like Musa Ssekaana to bury hatched and end the belligerent relationship with Ssemakadde and other ULS bosses.
He added that since Christianity preaches forgiveness, the UCLF members should amplify the mediation efforts he has commenced to get Ssemakadde ton down on his militant rhetoric against Judiciary bosses. The Minister went as far as suggesting that Muhairwe writes and causes to be published a newspaper article titled: “I love Isaac Ssemakadde.” Mao said that, even when many people consider him unlikable, such newspapers articles will soothe anger and make Ssemakadde realize that the world hasn’t completely given up on him.
The Justice Minister appealed to other Ssemakadde adversaries like the AG Kiwanuka Kiryowa to be prepared to give concessions and let go of Ssemakadde’s past mistakes because in his view, the war between the Dollo-led bench and Ssemakadde-led bar can only produce two losers. He doesn’t see any winner and he fears it will only constrain ordinary Ugandans’ desire to access justice through the courts of judicature.
Mao also proposed that Prof Fredrick Ssempebwa, a respected wealthy veteran lawyer and also a former ULS President, plays a leading role in reconciling the ULS President and individual judicial officers like Owiny Dollo, Musa Ssekaana and others. But in response, Ssemakadde (who continues to live in exile of some sort outside Uganda) asserted that imprisonment and locking up people under the pretext of contempt of court had become a new form of dictatorship and intimidation which Ugandan judicial officers use to shield themselves against scrutiny and legitimate criticism.
He said Ugandan prisons are overcrowded and full of people rotting and yet judges like Musa Ssekaana are making it even worse by sentencing people to long jail terms. Ssemakadde said that the Ugandan judiciary had connived against ordinary Ugandans and that in its current form, the country’s justice system only serves the rich, the mighty and the politically connected.
“The prisons are full of poor people who are innocent and the judiciary is complicit. We now have a syndicate whose members connive and work against the poor at the law enactment stage and enforcement of the same,” Ssemakadde said adding that the rich and powerful only use judicial officers, whose recruitment they influence, to fix poor people who stand in their way to grab land, primitive accumulation or even consolidate political power.
He said he was open to the idea of ADR and some mediation to deescalate the ongoing feuding and tensions existing between the bench and the bar but there are conditions and red lines which shouldn’t be crossed. Ssemakadde, who vowed to prevail against his enemies in the long term as the popular revolution he intends to lead will succeed, made it clear Mao shouldn’t require him to stop exercising what he called his right to “insult and annoy” Musa Ssekaana, Dollo and any other holder of public office.
Ssemakadde said that making harsh criticisms is his free speech which is well guaranteed in the Constitution under Article 29. He made it clear that his entitlement to free speech is non-negotiable and no one should ever require him to stop criticizing judges who engage in anomalous conduct merely because peace and decorum must exist between the bench (judges) and the bar (the lawyers/advocates).
Ssemakadde said all lawyers must understand what is at stake as opposed to rushing to write him off as a mere extremist. He said that everything that can go wrong in a country has happened in Uganda and it no longer makes sense to merely be a lawyer and behave indifferently towards the governance questions of the day because there can never be a winner or winners in a sinking boat. He challenged fellow advocates to distinguish between decorum and doctrine.
He said no one should be permitted to become a judge or holder of any other public office if they aren’t thick-skinned enough to accept criticism. He wondered why the Chief Justice or Musa Ssekaana can hold public office without accepting or expecting criticism when even the President tolerates those who often exercise their constitutional right to offend and insult him too. Ssemakadde said that he intends to mobilize the ordinary Ugandan citizens and rely on them more than fellow advocates.
He is optimistic that public pressure, which he wants to see become more pronounced, will force all judicial officers and lawyers to fall into line and begin working for ordinary Ugandans rather than serving only the interests of the rich and politically-connected. He said that advocates will have to speak up against anomalous conduct of judicial officers, like he has been doing, once they come under pressure from their clients and the ordinary court users whose matters they are hired and instructed to represent. He said partly that is how he won the ULS President and his ‘bang the table’ and ‘new radical bar’ approach caught fire.
Ssemakadde said for many years he deployed the strategy of writing articles and essays in newspapers pointing out what had wrong especially with the exercise of the DPP powers but he was ignored which prompted him to seek the ULS Presidency in order to get the mandate and platform to speak out on things which majority fellow advocates can only whisper about for fear of retribution from Dollo, the Principal judge, the law council, Musa Ssekaana and other bench members. Ssemakadde made it clear that he prefers to live for one day on his feet standing than for 100 years on his knees begging for his freedom.
He said he would never relent in his efforts to fight against colonial and neo-colonialist agents in the judiciary and their enablers from the bar. he singled out some fellow senior lawyers like Frank Kanduho who he criticised and bashed for almost a full hour. He also bashed Prof Anthony Kakooza, a commercial law lecturer at Makerere, describing him as a man who knows the right thing but he is too cowardly to raise his voice.
Ssemakadde equally had no kind words for old man Prof Fredrick Ssempebwa who he described in very demonizing language some of which we wouldn’t want to restate here. He dismissed him as unworthy and a dishonest old man who, for decades, has had the opportunity to tell the truth but acted indifferently in order to achieve self-preservation. He made it clear that even when he superficially appears to be neutral, Prof Ssempebwa is actually part of the repressive system which especially young lawyers should come together and vigorously push back against.
The resentment with which Ssemakadde spoke about his fellow Muganda Ssempebwa clearly created an impression that the incumbent ULS President won’t be participating in any of the Mao-instigated talks where Ssempebwa appears among the mediators or even the main one.
Ssempebwa, who is powerful partly because he co-founded one of Uganda’s wealthiest law firms and fathers Jessica Kayanja who is married to the Museveni First Family pastor Robert Kayanja, had previously appeared on 88.8 CBS fm’s Nze Nga Bwendala (the way I see it) news segment and uttered many uncharitable things about the person of Isaac Ssemakadde.
Ssempebwa said as an elder who is also a former ULS President, he had tried to counsel and advise Ssemakadde on the need to go slow on certain things but the youthful ULS President merely rubbished him. He said he had given up and now it was up to Ssemakadde to continue with his radical approach and deal with consequences later. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
