Africa-Press – Uganda. A panel of five Supreme Court justices will tomorrow hear an application in which government is seeking the stay of implementation of recent orders of the Constitutional Court that a serving judge should retire before being appointed to a new job in the executive arm of government.
In the notice served to the concerned parties, the hearing will start at 9:30am.The panel will be led by Chief Justice Alfonse Owiny-Dollo. Other justices include Stella Arach-Amoko, Rubby Aweri Opio, Paul Mugamba, and Ezekiel Muhagunzi.
About a fortnight ago, a panel of five justices of the Constitutional Court led by Kenneth Kakuru, ruled that it is illegal for a serving judge to be appointed to any executive job or a constitutional office prior to their resignation.
The landmark decision has mainly affected the current Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Ms Jane Frances Abodo, and the chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Justice Simon Byabakama.
Justice Abodo has since left office until the appeal challenging the Constitutional Court orders is concluded.
In the application for stay of the Constitutional Court orders, the Attorney General and the DPP contend that the court orders have far reaching implications as they will cripple prosecution of suspected criminals in the country.
“The said judgment, orders and declarations render the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions unable to perform its functions enshrined under Article 120 of the Constitution and hence creating a legal lacuna in the delivery of criminal justice,” reads in part the affidavit of Mr Vincent Wagona, a senior prosecutor in the DPP’s office.
“There is need to preserve the status quo, otherwise going forward, all pending cases for decision and in courts of law are likely to be stayed owing to the absence of a substantive Director of Public Prosecutions,” he stated in the affidavit.Government appealed the Constitutional Court ruling last week.
Government avers that the appeal raises several constitutional and legal questions of a serious nature regarding the criminal justice system in Uganda, security of the tenure of judicial officers and other employment rights for public officers in the three arms of government, which warrant judicial consideration by the Supreme Court.
The Constitutional Court judgment was a result of a petition filed by lawyer Robert Aldridge Kasango, aka Bob (now deceased), who had challenged his prosecution on the pension scam by then DPP Mike Chibita, who had been appointed the chief prosecutor while he was a judge.
Kasango reasoned that the appointment of then High Court judge Chibita to the position of chief government prosecutor had caused a fusion of the Executive and the Judiciary functions, hence undermining the independence of the Judiciary and separation of powers that the constitution requires.
He also argued that the unconstitutional appointment of Justice Chibita and his subsequent prosecution by him was unlawful and void.
Justice Kakuru, who wrote the lead judgment, agreed with Kasango and held that it was illegal for a judge to accept a job in the executive arm without first resigning from the Judiciary.
Bob Kasango’s body is wheeled out of church after service at All Saints Church in Nakasero in Kampala March 2. PHOTO/RACHEL MABALA.
About Kasango
Lawyer Robert Kasango succumbed to heart complications on February 27 at Luzira prison, where he was serving a 16-year jail sentence.
He was buried on Sunday in Gweri Village in Fort Portal City.
