Probe Kavuma, Besigye tells Judiciary
Former presidential candidate Kizza Besigye (L) has petitioned the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) to investigate the suitability of Justice Steven Kavuma (R) as a justice of the Court of Appeal/Constitutional Court. Monitor Photo
What you need to know:
Background. The former presidential candidate alleges that the Deputy Chief Justice is close to the Executive and that his professionalism is compromised.
Kampala. Former presidential candidate Kizza Besigye has petitioned the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) to investigate the suitability of Justice Steven Kavuma as a justice of the Court of Appeal/Constitutional Court.
Dr Besigye, in a June 16 letter that he penned from Luzira prison where he is currently on remand for treason charges, alleges that Justice Kavuma is close to the Executive and that instead of doing judicial work in line with the oath he took, he is allegedly doing the bidding of President Museveni, the appointing authority.
In a five-page letter, the four-time presidential candidate, alleges improper conduct, abuse of office, neglect of duty and maladministration by Justice Kavuma which he says should be investigated and appropriate action taken against him. The core mandate of the JSC is to recruit and discipline errant judicial officers.
“The conduct of Mr Steven Kavuma, over the years since he joined the Judiciary, was initially frequently suspicious, then later frequently outrageous and currently, predominantly improper to point of going against the oaths and the standards expected of such a judicial officer,” Dr Besigye writes in part.
“….Mr Kavuma’s appointment was initially treated with suspicion given his close links with the Executive. He did not disappoint critics as he proceeded to frequently dissent in judgments where human rights, civil or political liberties were at stake on account of excesses of the Executive,” he adds.
“The conduct of Mr Kavuma is in my view contrary to the judicial oath that he took. It must have meant very little to him because his conduct does not demonstrate any kind of understanding of the oath or its purpose.”
‘Kavuma not good for Uganda’
“I am calling upon the JSC to investigate the cases highlighted above with a view to determining whether Mr Kavuma is fit to remain in office and discharge functions of a justice of appeal. I believe that Uganda will continue to slide backwards if people such as Mr Kavuma remain in office pretending to be discharging judicial functions while in fact they are only doing the bidding of their appointing authority,” Dr Besigye observed.
When contacted, Justice Kavuma said: “I am aware of that letter, he gave me a copy, however, I don’t discuss those matters with the press..”
When Daily Monitor contacted the JSC Secretary, Mr Kagole Kivumbi, he confirmed receipt of Dr Besigye’s complaint against Justice Kavuma.
“There is a letter addressed to the chairperson of the commission to that effect. However, I am treating it as a letter but not as a compliant since complaints are usually addressed to the secretary and not the chairperson. This means that we shall wait for the chairperson to be appointed to office; that is when I will raise it to him/her,” Mr Kagole said by telephone yesterday.
Currently, the commission is without a chairperson following the retirement of Justice James Ogoola in February.
Dr Besigye cites a number of incidents in which he faults the deputy chief justice. He faults Justice Kavuma for having sat as a single judge in 2014 and reversed the orders of Judge Lydia Mugambe over the reinstatement of Kampala Lord Mayor Erias Lukwago to City Hall.
Dr Besigye also claimed that a number of constitutional petitions that are pending before the court for close to five years. He explained that since Justice Kavuma took charge of the court, several petitions that involve him and FDC party have been kept away since he is the one who constitutes the panels to hear cases.
“I gather… whenever my name comes up, he opts for removal of those cases. The details of these cases can be provided if required but I am unable to provide the details now owing to my current personal circumstances,” he states in his letter.
The former FDC presidential candidate also cites the ban of the FDC defiance campaign activities and himself as the latest demonstration of Justice Kavuma’s alleged excesses.
Dr Besigye complained that Justice Kavuma, without serving or notifying them and reportedly acting outside set court procedure and timing, granted an ex-parte interim order in which he issued “very strange orders.”
Justice Kavuma’s order banned Dr Besigye and the FDC party from engaging in demonstrations, processions, public meetings, media campaigns and pronouncements related to the use of the word ‘defiance’ in the weekly prayers.
The jailed Opposition leader also complained that the judge issued orders, stopping two lower courts (High Court and Kasangati Magistrate’s Court) from hearing and determining two cases in which he was seeking to regain his freedom when was under house arrest in the aftermath of the February elections.
“The orders against these courts effectively ensured that I remained under illegal detention,” Dr Besigye wrote.
Dr Besigye also took issue with Justice Kavuma’s inclusion of Justice Richard Buteera on the panel of five justices that will hear the defiance campaign case. He alleged that Justice Buteera, while still Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), frequently directed his prosecution on flimsy charges, including rape and treason, in “his life-long mission to persecute me.”
Dr Besigye was acquitted of the charges. Then High Course Judge John Bosco Katutsi, in his March 2006 ruling, said investigations had been “crude and amateurish, betraying the motives behind the case.”
The recent case
Dr Besigye’s complaint against Justice Kavuma comes a few weeks after he also wrote another dossier to Chief Justice Bart Katureebe that, among others, raised complaints against Justice Kavuma for issuing orders he said were planned to keep in illegal detention.
The Chief Justice in turn wrote to all judicial officers, including his deputy Kavuma, directing them to dispense justice to all citizens basing on known established laws and procedures.
Justice Katureebe also assured Dr Besigye that he had spoken to the Executive that as Judiciary, they will only be guided by the law to determine cases that are before them.
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