Africa-Press – Uganda. Court has dismissed a case in which lawyer Jude Mbabali was challenging the legality of a letter calling for a Uganda Law Society (ULS) representative on the Makerere University Council.
Mbabali sued the Makerere University Council and the learning institution’s Secretary Yusuf Kiranda, challenging a January 18, 2023 letter requesting ULS to recommend their representative on the Council, even after Mbabali was previously appointed by an outgoing ULS president (Simon Peter Kinobe) for 4-year term.
He then asked court to quash the decision of the University’s secretary contained in the letter requesting the president of the ULS to recommend another lawyer to sit on Makerere University Appointments Board as it was arrived at illegally, high handedly, irrationally, in bad faith, unreasonably and in breach of rules of natural justice and is procedurally improper.
He also sought an order for prohibition and a permanent injunction restraining the respondents and ULS from implementing what he described as an “illegal decision” contained in the said letter, with costs of the application.
But Civil Division Justice Musa Ssekaana ruled that the decision of the university to write to ULS was done lawfully.
“The duty is on the president of ULS to formally respond to the said letter recommending an advocate to sit on the Appointments Board of Makerere University. The applicant may be recommended to sit on the same committee,” he said.
He added: “It was wrong and unlawful for the former ULS president to recommend the applicant (Mbabali) to sit on the appointments board whose term was five months to expire. Secondly, the University council had not yet formally written to ULS to recommend an advocate to sit on the Appointments Board of Makerere University.”
Justice Ssekaana also faulted the former ULS president’s decision of recommending a person before the University Council had formally requested for nomination/recommendation of an advocate to sit on the Appointments Board.
The judge also noted that Mbabali was nominated by an outgoing president of ULS whose term was due to end shortly- which was unlawful for an outgoing President and his executive to fill positions which are to fall vacant in another term of office.
“Any such appointment would be an abuse of exercise of discretionary power by taking over the mandate of the new president as well as the new executive which in my view would amount to an ‘administrative coup or hijack,” Justice Ssekaana ruled on Monday.
“The mandate of the University Council was to follow the law as laid down in the Universities and Other Tertiary Institutions Act and University Charter which required the University Council to request the professional bodies like ULS to recommend a person to sit on the Appointments Board,” he added.
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