{"id":121922,"date":"2026-04-11T11:45:32","date_gmt":"2026-04-11T11:45:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/zeija-leaves-court-of-appeal-for-chief-justice-role"},"modified":"2026-04-11T11:59:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-11T11:59:10","slug":"zeija-leaves-court-of-appeal-for-chief-justice-role","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/zeija-leaves-court-of-appeal-for-chief-justice-role","title":{"rendered":"Zeija Leaves Court of Appeal for Chief Justice Role"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Uganda. <\/strong><\/span>The Court of Appeal of Uganda and Constitutional Court of Uganda on Thursday held a special sitting and luncheon in honour of Flavian Zeija following his elevation to Chief Justice of Uganda.<\/b><\/p>\n

The event, held at the Court of Appeal Conference Hall in Kampala, marked the end of Zeija\u2019s tenure as Deputy Chief Justice, with colleagues paying tribute to his leadership and contributions to the judiciary.<\/p>\n

In his remarks, Zeija described the occasion as both humbling and emotional, noting that it signified the close of a significant chapter in his judicial service. He said his time at the appellate court had been demanding but equally fulfilling, largely due to the collegiality and teamwork among the justices.<\/p>\n

\u201cServing in this Court has been one of the greatest honours of my professional life. Together, we have borne the responsibility of interpreting the law and administering justice to the people of Uganda,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He commended fellow justices for their intellectual rigour and commitment, adding that their deliberations had enriched Uganda\u2019s jurisprudence and strengthened the rule of law. He also acknowledged the contribution of court staff, whose professionalism he said had supported the delivery of quality judgments.<\/p>\n

Looking ahead, Zeija pointed to the persistent challenge of case backlog at the court but expressed optimism that it would ease once the statutory number of justices is attained. He pledged continued engagement with the court, indicating he would make quarterly visits to support efforts aimed at improving justice delivery.<\/p>\n

Moving a motion to formally record the court\u2019s appreciation, Geoffrey Kiryabwire said the sitting was convened to congratulate Zeija and recognise his leadership during his tenure as Deputy Chief Justice.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know the challenges, aspirations, and needs of this Court. There is no one better placed than you to support its continued growth,\u201d Kiryabwire said, urging him to remain closely engaged, particularly in the absence of a substantive Deputy Chief Justice.<\/p>\n

The motion was seconded by Fredrick Martin Stephen Egonda-Ntende and Hellen Obura. Egonda-Ntende described Zeija\u2019s leadership as impactful, saying it had strengthened collegiality within the court.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur loss is the gain of the entire Judiciary,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Justice Obura, in her tribute, highlighted Zeija\u2019s efforts to tackle case backlog and combat corruption, as well as his empathy and concern for the welfare of judicial officers.<\/p>\n

Representing the Court of Appeal Court Users Committee, Norah Matovu commended Zeija\u2019s steady rise through the judiciary\u2014from High Court judge to Principal Judge, Deputy Chief Justice, and now Chief Justice\u2014describing his leadership as innovative and transformative.<\/p>\n

However, she noted that the court continues to grapple with a backlog of more than 12,700 cases and called for urgent filling of judicial vacancies up to the statutory ceiling of 35 justices to improve access to justice, particularly for vulnerable court users.<\/p>\n

The event concluded with the presentation of gifts to the Chief Justice and his team, marking a ceremonial send-off as he assumes the judiciary\u2019s top office.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Uganda<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Uganda. The Court of Appeal of Uganda and Constitutional Court of Uganda on Thursday held a special sitting and luncheon in honour of Flavian Zeija following his elevation to Chief Justice of Uganda. The event, held at the Court of Appeal Conference Hall in Kampala, marked the end of Zeija\u2019s tenure as Deputy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":121921,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,12],"tags":[234],"class_list":["post-121922","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-policy","tag-uganda"],"yoast_head":"\nZeija Leaves Court of Appeal for Chief Justice Role - Uganda<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Court of Appeal of Uganda and Constitutional Court of Uganda on Thursday held a special sitting and luncheon in h ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/zeija-leaves-court-of-appeal-for-chief-justice-role\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Zeija Leaves Court of Appeal for Chief Justice Role\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Court of Appeal of Uganda and Constitutional Court of Uganda on Thursday held a special sitting and luncheon in h ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/zeija-leaves-court-of-appeal-for-chief-justice-role\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Uganda\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-04-11T11:45:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-11T11:59:10+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2026\/04\/sm_1775896116.338542.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1080\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/zeija-leaves-court-of-appeal-for-chief-justice-role#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/zeija-leaves-court-of-appeal-for-chief-justice-role\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Zeija Leaves Court of Appeal for Chief Justice Role\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-11T11:45:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-11T11:59:10+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/zeija-leaves-court-of-appeal-for-chief-justice-role\"},\"wordCount\":513,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/zeija-leaves-court-of-appeal-for-chief-justice-role#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2026\/04\/sm_1775896116.338542.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"uganda\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"policy\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/zeija-leaves-court-of-appeal-for-chief-justice-role#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/zeija-leaves-court-of-appeal-for-chief-justice-role\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/zeija-leaves-court-of-appeal-for-chief-justice-role\",\"name\":\"Zeija Leaves Court of Appeal for Chief Justice Role - Uganda\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/zeija-leaves-court-of-appeal-for-chief-justice-role#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/zeija-leaves-court-of-appeal-for-chief-justice-role#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2026\/04\/sm_1775896116.338542.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-04-11T11:45:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-11T11:59:10+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"The Court of Appeal of Uganda and Constitutional Court of Uganda on Thursday held a special sitting and luncheon in h ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/zeija-leaves-court-of-appeal-for-chief-justice-role#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/zeija-leaves-court-of-appeal-for-chief-justice-role\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/zeija-leaves-court-of-appeal-for-chief-justice-role#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2026\/04\/sm_1775896116.338542.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2026\/04\/sm_1775896116.338542.jpg\",\"width\":1080,\"height\":720,\"caption\":\"Zeija Leaves Court of Appeal for Chief Justice Role\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/zeija-leaves-court-of-appeal-for-chief-justice-role#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Zeija Leaves Court of Appeal for Chief Justice Role\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/\",\"name\":\"Uganda\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Zeija Leaves Court of Appeal for Chief Justice Role - Uganda","description":"The Court of Appeal of Uganda and Constitutional Court of Uganda on Thursday held a special sitting and luncheon in h ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/zeija-leaves-court-of-appeal-for-chief-justice-role","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Zeija Leaves Court of Appeal for Chief Justice Role","og_description":"The Court of Appeal of Uganda and Constitutional Court of Uganda on Thursday held a special sitting and luncheon in h ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/zeija-leaves-court-of-appeal-for-chief-justice-role","og_site_name":"Uganda","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2026-04-11T11:45:32+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-04-11T11:59:10+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1080,"height":720,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2026\/04\/sm_1775896116.338542.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/zeija-leaves-court-of-appeal-for-chief-justice-role#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/zeija-leaves-court-of-appeal-for-chief-justice-role"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"Zeija Leaves Court of Appeal for Chief Justice Role","datePublished":"2026-04-11T11:45:32+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-11T11:59:10+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/zeija-leaves-court-of-appeal-for-chief-justice-role"},"wordCount":513,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/zeija-leaves-court-of-appeal-for-chief-justice-role#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2026\/04\/sm_1775896116.338542.jpg","keywords":["uganda"],"articleSection":["all news","policy"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/zeija-leaves-court-of-appeal-for-chief-justice-role#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/zeija-leaves-court-of-appeal-for-chief-justice-role","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/zeija-leaves-court-of-appeal-for-chief-justice-role","name":"Zeija Leaves Court of Appeal for Chief Justice Role - Uganda","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/zeija-leaves-court-of-appeal-for-chief-justice-role#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/zeija-leaves-court-of-appeal-for-chief-justice-role#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2026\/04\/sm_1775896116.338542.jpg","datePublished":"2026-04-11T11:45:32+00:00","dateModified":"2026-04-11T11:59:10+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"The Court of Appeal of Uganda and Constitutional Court of Uganda on Thursday held a special sitting and luncheon in h ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/zeija-leaves-court-of-appeal-for-chief-justice-role#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/zeija-leaves-court-of-appeal-for-chief-justice-role"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/zeija-leaves-court-of-appeal-for-chief-justice-role#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2026\/04\/sm_1775896116.338542.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/uganda\/sites\/34\/2026\/04\/sm_1775896116.338542.jpg","width":1080,"height":720,"caption":"Zeija Leaves Court of Appeal for Chief Justice Role"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/all-news\/zeija-leaves-court-of-appeal-for-chief-justice-role#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Zeija Leaves Court of Appeal for Chief Justice Role"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/","name":"Uganda","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121922","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=121922"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121922\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":121929,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/121922\/revisions\/121929"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/121921"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=121922"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=121922"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/uganda\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=121922"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}