I retire in three years, says CJ Katureebe

Chief Justice Bart Katureebe

What you need to know:

  • Justice Katureebe’s first return to Namilyango College since 1969-70 when he completed his Advanced Level, was nostalgic.

KAMPALA. Chief Justice Bart Katureebe has said he will be retiring three years from now and will not cling to the office thereafter.
Justice Katureebe ascended to the highest office in the Judiciary two years ago and will turn 70, the mandatory retirement age for Supreme Court judges, on June 15, 2020.
“I will be leaving in the next three years from now as I will be clocking 70 and I want to promise you the old boys and students that I will leave without a whimper,” Justice Katureebe assured the old and current students of Namilyango College at the school campus at the weekend.

He was the chief guest at the celebration of the school’s 115 years since establishment.
“What I am trying to do now is to do what I can. I will make my mistakes and I am making mistakes but I don’t mind making an honest mistake when trying to do something and an honest mistake can be corrected. But when people make deliberate mistakes at the expense of their country, we have a reason to be afraid and you (Namilyango students) are the future and hope for us all, for yourselves and for your country as a whole,” Justice Katureebe counselled.

The Chief Justice’s remarks of no intention to cling to office come three years after the Constitutional Court quashed President Museveni’s reappointment of the then Chief Justice Benjamin Odoki for two more years after he had attained his mandatory retirement age. The court ruled that Justice Odoki’s reappointment was unconstitutional.
Justice Katureebe’s first return to Namilyango College since 1969-70 when he completed his Advanced Level, was nostalgic.
He spoke affectionately of the school memories, saying it’s where he met his wife, whom he said was by then studying at Trinity College Nabbingo.

Tribute to Namilyango
“I am grateful to this school in so many ways. It gave me that exposure from the village as I was coming from a school that was just starting and came to the oldest school in the country for my Advanced Level. It was quite a transition,” Justice Katureebe said.
“It was also in my Senior Five, while here, that I met someone from Trinity College Nabbingo and we became good friends and eight years down the road, she became my wife,” Justice Katureebe added.
Further in his remarks, the head of the Judiciary cautioned the students to be disciplined and avoid bad company that will expose them to drugs and corruption.