Treat Judiciary Fairly, Hon. Justice Wambuzi Tells Government
Former Chief Justice Wambuzi at the book launch with Prof. Apollo Nsimbambi
Three-time former Chief Justice Hon. Justice Samuel\r\nWilliam Wako Wambuzi has warned the Executive and Parliament to stop treating\r\nthe Judiciary which is the third arm as their junior partner.
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Hon. Justice Wambuzi reasoned that due to such\r\ndegrading treatment that Judiciary receives from the Executive and Legislative\r\narms of government, there have been some regrettable constitutional mistakes\r\nmade.
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He sounded the warning on April 24,2015 at the\r\nofficial launch of his book entitled: ‘Odyssey of a Judicial Officer in\r\nPrecarious Times: My Trials and Triumphs as a Three-Time Chief Justice of\r\nUganda’
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"With a measure of sadness, however, I note the\r\ntendency in this country as illustrated in the book, for the Executive and\r\nsometimes the Legislative arms of government to treat the Judiciary, the third\r\narm of government as their junior partner.” Hon. Justice Wambuzi said in a\r\nfaint elderly voice
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He added: "as a result, there is a regrettable\r\nlapse in constitutionalism or if you prefer, walking outside the constitution”
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"It is my fervent hope and prayer that steps will\r\nbe taken to rectify the situation. As the first step, we could try putting the\r\nJudiciary at par with other two arms of government; be it in terms of\r\ncompensation to judicial officers including retired ones.”
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The book covers Wambuzi’s role in shaping the\r\njudiciary and also shades light on his matrimonial life.
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The Uganda government is a democracy one with three\r\narms that include; the Executive comprising of the President, Vice President,\r\nPrime Minister, and Cabinet. The second arm of government is the Legislature\r\nthat comprises of Parliament and headed by the Speaker. Lastly, the Judiciary\r\nis the third arm of government that comprises of the courts headed by the Chief\r\nJustice.
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The retired Chief Justice who has a judicial career\r\nspanning about 40 years, also took this forum to fault Parliament for rushing\r\nto confirm some Presidential appointees in spite of public outcries hanging\r\nover them .
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In his fatherly advice, he suggested that when\r\nParliament is faced with dilemma, it should first investigate into the matter\r\nincluding hearing from all involved and come up with an independent decision\r\nbased its independent verification.
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"In the most recent past, we have seen Parliament\r\ndecline to consider a nominee when there were public questions hanging over the\r\nproposed appointment. On the other hand, we have also seen Parliament rush to\r\nconfirm an appointment in spite of public questions hanging over the proposed\r\nappointment.” he warned.
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"In my experience, whenever we were faced with\r\nappointments prior to the 1995 constitution and either right action was taken\r\nor no action was taken at all, the decision makers would rue such decision or\r\nindecision, sooner than later and invariably the judiciary and nation\r\nsuffered.” Hon. Justice Wambuzi added.
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Former Premier Apolo Nsibambi, who was the chief\r\nguest, highlighted some of the key areas in justice Wambuzi’s book.
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Some of such key areas that he highlighted include;\r\na proposal to have the Chief Justice also doubling as the chairman of the\r\nJudicial Service Commission so as to effectively discipline errant judicial\r\nofficers and also recruit, his presiding over of the initial computerization of\r\ncourts, and the development of judiciary master plan among others.
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Efforts to reach Information and National Guidance\r\nMinister Jim Muhwezi were futile as his known telephone was switched off at\r\npress time. Likewise the known telephone contact of Media Centre boss Ofwono\r\nOpondo was switched off at press time.
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So far, Hon. Justice Wambuzi is the longest serving\r\nChief Justice in the post-Independence era as he served under three Presidency\r\nof Idi Amin, Yusuf Lule and Yoweri Museveni as Chief Justice (1972-1975, 1979-1980 and 1986-2001).
Posted 27th, April 2015
