Uganda Law Society Radical New Bar – An Open Letter To The Chief Justice.

By Isaac Kimaze Ssemakadde

Dear Hon. Chief Justice A. C. Owiny-Dollo,

I am breaking my sick leave to write to you as someone who, I hope, understands the profound weight of our current moment. Your recent willingness to initiate a thaw in our relations even when you were under the weather means more to me than mere protocol – it speaks to a genuine commitment to dialogue that our judiciary desperately needs.

During our rapprochement at your official residence on 1 November 2024, you urged me to be frank with you. Let me do just that. On 18 November 2024 I stood at Katonga Road, delivering a keynote speech on the State of the Rule of Law, Constitutionalism and Human Rights, while battling illness myself. I could not delegate – to do so would have signaled a lack of urgency about matters fundamental to our legal system. The recent detention of Dr. Besigye after his abduction and rendition from Kenya, particularly during this same period of illness, is symptomatic of a deeper exacerbated malaise. The ubiquity of unmitigated prosecutorial misconduct, a police-to-prison pipeline, and judicial decisions that seem motivated by interests far removed from legal principles – all these are not isolated incidents. They are a pattern.

Your decision this week to allow the adjournment of court business countrywide for advocates to attend an extraordinary general meeting of the Uganda Law Society (ULS) on 17 December 2024 demonstrates exactly the kind of responsive leadership we need. It showed me you understand the living, breathing nature of our legal institutions. I am grateful.

But now I must press a matter of existential importance. We are facing a judicial crisis that threatens to unravel the very fabric of rule of law in Uganda. Four years have passed without judgment on any constitutional appeal. Four years! According to the Judiciary’s Annual Performance Report, the Supreme Court’s overall clearance rate was 8% in 2023, and 10% in 2024. With great respect, this is a systematic erosion of justice!

The Supreme Court’s passive maintenance of injunctions against judgments of the Court of Appeal/Constitutional Court during this time represents a dangerous precedent. It suggests an imbalance where government interests are consistently prioritized over constitutional principles and citizens’ rights. This is not just procedural delay – it is a systematic undermining of judicial independence. Each passing month these injunctions remain in place is another month our legal system loses credibility.

By allowing these injunctions to perpetually delay substantive rulings of the lower court, the Supreme Court is effectively becoming a blunt instrument of governmental strategy rather than a smart, independent arbiter of justice. We cannot – we must not – allow this institutional malaise to continue.

At a recent Space on X, formerly Twitter, held on 16 November 2024 at the beginning of the ULS Annual Rule of Law Week, I was asked about what you had said during our November 1 rapprochement. Above all else, participants demanded accountability for the Supreme Court’s excruciatingly delayed ruling on prosecuting civilians in military tribunals. For many, this grotesque delay symbolizes a profound institutional crisis that demands immediate, unequivocal intervention.

I told that audience you would soon speak for yourself—and I meant it. This is not an abstract legal conversation—it is a direct assault on human rights that you, as Chief Justice, are morally and constitutionally obligated to address and repair. The responsibility to restore justice rests squarely on your shoulders, a burden that transcends institutional procedure and speaks to the very heart of judicial integrity. By bringing this to you, I am not merely raising a concern, but challenging you to be the catalyst for the systemic transformation our judiciary desperately requires.

As the nation’s top court, the Supreme Court must be our beacon of accountability, our instrument of systemic restoration. The lack of decisive movement in the top court creates a vacuum where justice suffocates.

I value the cordial relationship we are building. But I am compelled to be direct: if the Supreme Court does not set a clear, principled tone in the New Law Year, unavoidable friction is not just possible – it is inevitable. We need more than adjournments, sympathetic ears, and sumptuous luncheons. We need action. A ruling notice. A clear signal that the judiciary will hold itself, and its most senior members, accountable.

The Attorney General, the Director of Public Prosecutions, and judicial officers who have strayed from their constitutional mandate – all must understand that no one is above the scrutiny of justice.

This is not a threat. This is a plea from one public servant to another. Help us restore the integrity of our legal system. Deal with the Elephant in the Room! With respect, urgency, and hope.

Isaac Kimaze Ssemakadde is the current President of the Uganda Law Society.