This is not a time to be a coward as a judge.This is a time for courageous men and women" said Lumumba.
Renowned Kenyan
Lawyer and Scholar Professor Patrick Loch Otieno Lumumba has hailed the Supreme
Court of Uganda over the judgment against the trial of civilians in military Courts.
Supreme Court
ruling declaring military trials of civilians unconstitutional has been widely
celebrated by human rights activist groups saying it is a victory for human
rights.
Senior Counsel
PLO Lumumba joined global voices in support of the court’s bold decision. He
was delivering a keynote address at the 26th Annual
Judges' Conference at Mestil Hotel in Kampala.
“You the Hon judges
of the Supreme Court have just made a decision that a civilian should not be
tried in a military court. There is what I call executive push-back. As it is expected.
The question is did you make the right decision in accordance with international
Law? Yes you did.”
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On January 31,
2025, the Supreme Court
held that military courts lack jurisdiction to try
civilians and ordered officials to halt all ongoing military trials of
civilians and transfer them to the country’s civilian court system.
The Executive and
the UPDF in particular has not complied with the orders by the judges who
included the Chief Justice, Hon. Justice Owiny – Dollo. Civilians
like Dr Kiiza Besigye and his co accused, Haj Obeid Lutale and other civilians remain
in incarceration almost a week after the court delivered its verdict.
The lower courts had ruled against the trial of
civilians by court martial.
In 2021, the
Constitutional Court ruling found the provisions of the
UPDF Act that allow for military trials of civilians unconstitutional. It
appears like the some powerful individuals in the army are reluctant to abide
by the Supreme Court orders.
The Attorney
General’s Chambers has delivered contradictory explanations to Parliament whenever
opposition MPS like Atikens Katusabe and Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda raised
concerns over the continued detention of Dr Kiiza Besigye under civilians.
The Deputy
Attorney General, Jackson Kafuuzi told Parliament on Wednesday that there were
processes to be followed before the civilian suspects can be released from
military courts.
“As Attorney General’s Chambers, we would expect that if the court martial
is to hand over the files. Because remember the Supreme Court says the trails
should cease and be transferred. Once they do that, they would copy us in as
Attorney General’s chambers. We have not received that copy” said Kafuuzi
“And I’m not going to stand here before Parliament and commit that we
will table a copy a transfer list because I don’t know how fast it is being
worked upon” he added.
President Museveni
last week slammed the Supreme Court’s ruling saying he was sorry to hear of the
wrong decision by the Supreme Court. The President went further to state that
the country is not governed by judges.
The Chief of Defense
Forces, Muhoozi Keinerugaba during the Tarehe Sita celebration said the UPDF in
collaboration with the Attorney General’s Chambers were working on possible
legislative amendments following the Supreme Court ruling.
“I will not go into
details. We shall discuss this in high command. But your Excellency this
development is very unfortunate and quite unacceptable. It could herald a
national security crisis. Threatening effective command, control and administration
of the defence forces”
Push-back Expected
Professor
Lumumba
during address said the executive push-back on the judgement on the matter was
expected. He suggested that it is the duty of the judiciary to push back by
force of reason and argument.
“And if you do
that consistently, then you discover that they begin to know that this cannot
happen. So that is also a sense of education to the political class, By virtue
of your consistency in making the decisions” said Lumumba.
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Lumumba noted the legislature
and the executive arms of governments in Africa are becoming more and more aggressive.
“We have seen it more
recently in the election in Mozambique how the court cooperated I legitimizing
the victory of FRELIMO, we have seen in in Gabon. So I think that is going to happen”
he said.
While Lumumba notes
that while this is not a very good time to be a judge, it should equally not be
a time to be a coward as a judge.
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He suggested to
the judges that whatever decision they make in terms of societal, political and
economic transformation must be informed by sad realities.
“You cannot transform the society and the economy
if you ignore the politics. And what is politics? Politics is the organization of
human affairs for the general good. That is why you judges of Supreme Court
listen to election petitions”
He noted that a critical
moments in history, it is critical that judges stand for what is good and right.
“Because it is always good and right at all times. And I believe that the judiciary
of any country has that duty” he said.
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He said the decisions
by the courts in some aspects have expanded the frontiers and made a contribution
in the republic of Uganda.
