Africa-Press – Uganda. Anthony Yeboah Wameli held close to his heart his profession and religious beliefs.
The passion he had while representing his clients who, on many occasions, were trying to get out of jail, could only be equated to that of the road side preacher.
As the head of National Unity Platform’s (NUP) legal department, Wameli was part of the legal team that filed Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu’s petition challenging President Museveni’s electoral victory in 2021.
But it was free legal representation of the downtrodden that cast him into the limelight a few years ago.
When former police spokesperson Andrew Kaweesi was brutally murdered in March 17, 2017, after a gang of assassins sprayed his car with bullets, also killing his bodyguard Kenneth Erau and driver Godfrey Wambewa, the State reacted by rounding up several suspects, most of whom professed Islam.
When the suspects first appeared at Nakawa Chief Magistrate Court, majority of them had visible fresh torture wounds and found it difficult to walk.
While the country was coming to terms with Kaweesi’s brutal murder, Wameli swung into action and started leading a process to get some of the accused out on bail.
In November 2017, Wameli managed to secure bail for at least seven of the suspects with Noah Sajjabbi, then Nakawa Court Chief Magistrate granting the suspects their freedoms on grounds that the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) had failed to commit them to the High Court for trial.
However, in the scenes that came to shock the country, Umaru Maganda, Ahmed Ssenfuka and Ibrahim Kisa were violently re-arrested by operatives around Spear Motors junction in Nakawa, a Kampala suburb.
In the aftermath of the arrests, there was a clash between police and the army as both security agencies had different narratives of what had happened.
Police said they had no idea about the exercise yet the army insisted it was a joint operation.
This didn’t stop Wameli from looking for his clients through filing several applications in court and he finally secured their freedoms again.
Wameli’s bravery was there for everybody to see and it didn’t come as a surprise when Gen Henry Tumukunde, who had declared his presidential ambitions, sought out his services after he was charged with treason.
By 2020, however, Wameli had decided to also have a shot at politics when he stood for the Namisindwa County seat on NUP ticket.
It’s his interest in politics, blended with the law that saw the largest Opposition political party appoint the 45-year old as the head of their legal department.
But by the time campaigns reached fever pitch, he had started feeling weak due to sickness that later was diagnosed as cancer of the colon. He lost the election to Mr Apollo Masika.
Not known for going down easily, Wameli challenged Masika’s victory citing fraud and bribery of voters but the High Court in Mbale City ruled otherwise.
After appearing for the downtrodden, it didn’t come as a surprise that in 2021, the Uganda Law Society recognised him as the best criminal lawyer in Uganda.
Yet, Wameli’s career has crisscrossed between private practice and public practice. In the early 2000s, he ventured into private practice, serving with a litany of firms.
However, in 2009, he decided to take a shot in public service when he was appointed as a Grade One Magistrate.
By 2011, he had had enough of public service. He quit and formed his own law firm of Wameli & Co. Advocates, which catapulted him to heights. At one time, he aspired to become the president of the Uganda Law Society but along the way, he left the campaigns that saw Pheona Nabasa Wall emerging winner in that heated race.
Background
Born on August 29, 1978, Wameli hailed from Bukhaweka Village, Buwabwala Parish, Bupoto Sub-county, Bubulo County in Namisindwa District in Eastern Uganda.
He started his education at City Primary School (Ariya PS) in 1985 where he sat his Primary Leaving Examinations from before joining St Peter’s College Tororo for his Ordinary Level education.
For his Advanced Level education, he studied from Bukedi College – Kachonga before joining Makerere University for his law course in 2000 and later at Law Development Centre.
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