Attorney General sued over holding two roles

The Attorney General, Mr Kiryowa Kiwanuka, has been sued for holding two positions as a Cabinet minister and the head of the Bar (all lawyers).

Mr Isaac Kimaze Ssemakadde, a lawyer and petitioner, argues that allowing the Attorney General to also be the head of the Bar as per the Uganda Law Society Act and yet at the same time serve in Cabinet interferes with the independence of the legal profession.

“Whereas under our Constitution, the legal profession’s autonomy is essential for a fair and impartial Judiciary, the government’s interference with the independence of the legal profession through the impugned provisions of the Uganda Law Society Act and the Advocates Act, by implication or infection, undermines the independence of the Judiciary, which is blatantly inconsistent or in contravention of Articles 2, 8A, 20, 28(1), 79(1), 79(3), 99, 126, 128 and 274 of the Constitution,” Mr Ssemakadde states in his court documents he filed on Monday. 

Further, Mr Ssemakadde states that under the Constitution, the Attorney General is a Cabinet minister and thus prohibited from holding “any office of profit or emolument likely to compromise his or her office”.

Justification

He claims Mr Kiryowa did not resign from his law firm of K&K, a law firm he claims handles vast government dealings.

“The 2nd respondent (Mr Kiwanuka) is simultaneously the Attorney General of Uganda and a partner in K&K Advocates, a firm with vast dealings with the government of Uganda, in contravention of Articles 2 and 113(4) of the Constitution,” counsel Ssemakadde avers.

Adding: “An order directing the 2nd respondent (Kiwanuka) to return all salary, allowances, bonuses, and benefits earned while acting as Attorney General to the 1st respondent’s National Treasury,”

Through the lawyers of the Centre for Legal Aid, Mr Ssemakadde now wants the court to issue a permanent injunction restraining Mr Kiwanuka or any person from acting in the office of the Attorney General in violation of Article 113(4) of the Constitution.

He also wants the court to issue an order, directing Mr Kiwanuka to return all salary, allowances, bonuses, and benefits earned while acting as Attorney General to the national treasury.

Efforts to reach out to the AG were futile as he didn’t pick up our repeated phone calls were futile by press time.

However, Mr Simon Peter Jamba, the spokesperson of the Justice Ministry, said:  "He is the head of the Bar because he is the current occupant of the office of the Attorney General as demanded in the statutes. Therefore, he can't be sued in his capacity. Someone is misguided here.”

By press time yesterday, the court had not fixed a hearing date.