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Court okays replacement for deceased lawyer Kasango in govt case
Deceased Kampala lawyer Bob Kasango appears before Buganda Road Court in 2016. Photo/File
What you need to know:
- Government avers that the appeal raises several constitutional and legal questions of serious nature regarding the criminal justice system in Uganda.
The Supreme Court has okayed the replacement of deceased lawyer Robert Aldridge Kasango alias Bob with the Administrator General in an application in which government seeks to stay the implementation of orders of the Constitutional Court that a serving judge should retire before being appointed to a new job with the Executive.
The matter that is pending before the final court in the land, could not proceed because Kasango, who was respondent, died “yet he left no one behind as his administrator.”
When the matter came up for hearing before a panel of five justices on Tuesday, prosecution led by senior commissioner Richard Adrole told court that they did not know of Kasango’s administrator, per their previous appearance in court on February 28, 2024.
“We later got information that the Administrator General is in charge of the letters of administration. We want to amend the record of the appeal to substitute the parties and replace Kasango with the Administrator General who now has the powers and agreed to take up the case,” Adrole submitted.
Court further heard that there is no one interested in joining the suit, leaving prosecution with no option and it is a public interest case.
The panel, led by Dr Lillian Tibatemwa, agreed with the state for the administrator General to take up the matter as the respondent. Other justices include Percy Night Tuhaise, Mike Chibita, Elizabeth Musoke, Christopher Madrama, Catherine Bamugemereire and Monica Mugenyi.
The Constitutional Court previously ruled that it is illegal for a serving judge to be appointed to any executive job or a constitutional office prior to their resignation.
The landmark judgment arose from a petition that was filed by Kasango, who challenged his pension scam prosecution by then DPP Mike Chibita.
Kasango had successfully reasoned that the appointment of then High Court judge Chibita to the position of chief government prosecutor had “caused fusion of the Executive and the judiciary, hence undermining the independence of the latter and separation of powers.”
He had also argued that the unconstitutional appointment of Chibita and his subsequent prosecution by him was unlawful and void.
Justice Kenneth Kakuru, now deceased, who wrote the lead judgment agreed with Kasango and held that it was illegal for a judge to accept a job in the executive arm without first resigning from the judiciary.
However, being dissatisfied with the court’s ruling, the Attorney General and DPP filed an appeal in the Supreme Court challenging the Constitutional court orders.
“The said judgment, orders and declarations render the office of the DPP unable to perform its functions enshrined under Article 120 of the Constitution and hence creating a legal lacuna in the delivery of criminal justice,” reads in part, the affidavit of Justice Vincent Wagona who at the time was a senior prosecutor in the DPP’s office.
“There is need to preserve the status quo, otherwise going forward, all pending cases for decision and in courts of law are likely to be stayed owing to the absence of a substantive DPP,” he started in the affidavit.
Government avers that the appeal raises several constitutional and legal questions of serious nature regarding the criminal justice system in Uganda, security of the tenure of judicial officers and other employment rights for public officers in the three arms of government which warrant judicial consideration by the Supreme Court.
