Killing spree shakes Judiciary

KAMPALA. The collision path was clear and paved. Justice Kiwanuka believed in the rule of law and Amin’s appreciation of the same was almost none existent. He abused the law and most often than not, acted arbitrarily.
Justice Kiwanuka was arrested at gunpoint by soldiers as he presided over a High Court session and executed on September 22, 1972 at Makindye Military Prison.
Recalling the events surrounding the killing of Kiwanuka, former Chief Justice Benjamin Odoki told Daily Monitor recently of how lawyers secretly mourned the brutal murder of the learned friend. Justice Kiwanuka was the first Ugandan born Chief Justice.
Justice Odoki recalls that during Amin’s time, there was a slogan of “he has been taken” meaning that several people were secretly taken away and killed by his men and no one would ask why or where that missing person had been taken. He added that fellow lawyers could not protest the killing of Kiwanuka as they did not have the capacity to do so and even feared for their dear life.
Justice Odoki also revealed that other lawyers including Mr Mawange from Masaka and Mr Okurut from Teso whose first names he hardly remembered, were murdered by Amin’s men.

Recent attacks on lawyers
Nsubuga Mubiru (senior lawyer in private practice)
In 2011, during the climax of the hearing of a high profile case in which death row convict Thomas Nkulungira was being heard over the murder of his ex-girlfriend Brenda Karamuzi, his lawyer Nsubuga Mubiru threw in the towel on grounds that his life was in danger.
He said he had been attacked by unknown gunmen who shot at his car and shattered his windscreen as he approached his family gate. He escaped with minor injuries.
Mr Nsubuga claimed he had received death threats for representing Nkulungira in court. He quit the case and Nkulungira was left with one lawyer Johnny Barenzi who represented him until his conviction and the eventual sentencing to death.

George Mugyenyi (lawyer in private practice)
Lawyer George Mugyenyi breathed his last on the night of March 1 this year due to suspected poisoning. He died after consuming poisonous food stuffs at a meeting with unknown people in Munyonyo, a Kampala suburb.
His wife told mourners at All Saints Cathedral in Kampala that her husband confided in her that he had been killed and that he knew the people responsible. The deceased was also a farmer.

Joan Kagezi (senior principle state attorney)
On March 30 at around 7.15pm, Joan Kagezi, a lawyer practicing as public prosecutor at the rank of senior principle state attorney, was gunned down in the presence of her two children in Kiwatule, Kampala on their way back home. Ms Kagezi who was the prosecutorial head of the International War Crimes Division of the high court, was gunned down by unknown assailants who were trailing her on a boda boda, motorcycle. Her murder was largely attributed to her being lead prosecutor in the 2010 twin bomb case. She had also previously handled several sensitive cases including that of ex LRA rebel commander Thomas Kwoyelo.
Ms Kagezi became the first public prosecutor in the history of the Directorate of Public Prosecutions to be killed presumably in the line of her duty.
Lawyers endangered?
At the requiem service for Ms Kagezi, the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Mike Chibita said when the current crop of lawyers went to law school, they never imagined that it was a dangerous profession.
He said the tools of any lawyer are pens, law books, gowns and occasionally wigs. He said at worst judges in court would bang a table or throw a book at someone. He added that a worst day for a prosecutor in court would be handling of exhibits such as blood samples, bullets, body parts and fluids but this was okay with them until the targeted killing.
“When we went to law school, we never imagined that it was a dangerous profession. Indeed ordinarily, the legal profession is one of the safest professions in the world,” said DPP Chibita
“Never in our wildest imaginations did we ever think that we will be targets; the victims. However, in the world, things change. The battle has been brought to our doorstep.”
The DPP vowed to carry on. “Should we run to the bedroom and hide under the beds? No, we cannot do that! We shall stand our ground and fight back.”
“Our weapons are well known. Where they use guns, we use law books; where they use bullets, we use pens; and where they shoot us from the highways, we shall battle them in the courtrooms. So help us God. I think history has proved repeatedly that the pen is mightier than the sword,” Mr Chibita told judicial officers.
The vice president of Uganda prosecutors association, Mr David Baxter Bakibinga, had a different view of what could be triggering the recent murders.
He attributed it to a new wave of criminality, which he said, is still silent.
Mr Bakibinga said the hit men who usually travel on boda bodas as means of transport as they execute their deadly missions have not targeted only lawyers, but people across walks of life, including the Muslim clerics.
“There should be a kind of silent resistance that is triggering this criminality as a way of testing the government on how it can react to it,” Mr Bakibinga said.
Mr Bakibinga also attributed this current wave of criminality to the many enemies that our country has created for having sent out our troops to different countries in the region.
Uganda has peace keeping troops in Somalia, South Sudan and Central African Republic.
Law society president Ruth Sebatindira cautioned the public not to look at lawyers as enemies but professionals doing their work of representing a suspect in court or prosecute, in case of state lawyers. She added that an attack on lawyers is an attack on justice and must be condemned.
“We will need legal assistance regardless of whether we are the accused, the complainant, the plaintiff defendant” said Ms Sebatindira
Some private lawyers like Caleb Alaka and Ladislaus Rwakafuuzi said they are still living their normal life and have not beefed up their personal security.
“I am still living my normal life. You see it is very hard to avoid being harmed by your enemies as they usually live around you. If I have harmed someone in the course of my legal practice, I am sorry,” said counsel Rwakafuuzi.
Security beefed up at court premises
During the recent handover ceremony of the new Chief Justice Bart Katureebe, Justice Minister Kahinda Otafiire promised that government will provide more security measures for judicial officers whose life is in danger.
He said government will try to provide security for threatened officers to avoid a similar scenario like that of Ms Kagezi.
Shortly after Kagezi’s killing, Principal Judge Yorokamu Bamwine held a crisis meeting in his chambers with top security bosses to streamline security measures of those involved in the hearing of 2010 bomb case and generally the security around courts.
Following that meeting, security at courts across the city has been heightened.
Long queues are now a common scenario at various court entrances as the public has to be thoroughly checked before accessing the court premises.
Notices have been pinned in several courts restricting journalists from filming or taking still photos when courts are in session. The head of VIP security at the Kololo-based court only identified as Katukore would stop exposing the faces of the judicial officers and prosecutors handling the various court cases.
Rules have also been put up for the media on how to cover court proceedings. “

Do prosecutors feel for life?
Mr Jane Okuo Kajuga, the spokesperson of the Directorate, said the killing of one their own has woken them up to streamline their security measures. Ms Kajuga revealed that there is a comprehensive security plan being worked on and that it will be out soon.
She added that at the moment, all those prosecutors who feel their life is in danger, have been advised to ask for their personal security and that some already have.

The dates in history

September 22, 1972. The first murder of a judicial official, Benedicto Kiwanuka, took place.
March 30,2015. Most recent murder of a judicial official.