What judges said at end of age limit petition hearing

Alfonse Owiny-Dollo, Deputy Chief Justice

Hon Wandera Ogalo, senior counsel, the entire legal counsel for the petitioners, Mr Male Mabirizi who has dutifully represented himself, I take this opportunity with a very deep appreciation to thank the learned counsel who for the past two weeks have done their work dutifully, with great zeal and determination. You have exceeded the professionalism of taking the matters that brought you here.

Given the nature of this petition, we cautioned that we shouldn’t bring politics in it. It was a great deed that each one of you learned counsel stayed away from politics and concentrated on the law and evidence knowing very well that the determination of the matter has a direct and huge consequence on the politics of this country.
We are not here to play politics and indeed I appreciate that you did not play politics and we don’t know what the decision will impact on the direction this country should take, for this, I really want to thank each one of you on the legal team on either side and Mr Mabirizi who represented himself.

I would like to thank the court users, the petitioners and all the other persons for the discipline with which you exhibited during these proceedings. This is a clear manifestation that you came here with a legal grievance and you were seeking the intervention of this honourable court.
To the learned counsel, the petitioners and members of the public, as I said before and reiterated by learned counsel Erias Lukwago that Parliament has spoken, Cabinet has spoken, people in various fora have spoken, you have spoken in the courtroom, I now urge everyone to leave the courts to do their work and speak. That is why you came here.
If I may say this, learned counsel, stay away from journalists because they may make you say something and that may be construed by the public, not us. Leave the court to come up with a judgement and you have every right to criticise the judgement in any way even before the appellate court, that is fine but between now and the judgement, my plea is that leave the courts, which never invited you here, to do its work.

We undertake like we have promised before, we give you individual and collective words that we will deliver just decision on all the matters that have been presented before us, that we give you our word and it’s not far, that day will come and we shall come back here in the same court room and deliver our judgements.
The five of us seated here are all Ugandans, none of us has got duo citizenship, we all have single citizenship as Ugandans, all of us are family people and what we are doing here is because this is our country and we reconstruct the other Africana proverb I told you about land. This land of Uganda is not our inheritance from our forefathers. This land of Uganda we are using, we have borrowed it from our future children, so whatever we do, we must know that we must hand it back to them, the people whom we have borrowed from.

When we come out with the judgement, we believe you will respect it even if you don’t agree with it.
Otherwise, thank you so much, this is the spirit to me on how we should handle the courts of judicature. For as long as the Court of Appeal sits as Constitutional Court and when it is still under my charge, please accept the decision but it’s also incumbent on you to come out with constructive criticisms because if you come out with criticisms that destroys the court, you should try the alternative of courts of law, then you will know. You will be like a man who cuts a forest, he will not have where to hide, so equally, if you destroy the courts of judicature, you will have nowhere to run to, the alternative is unthinkable. Otherwise thank you against so much. We will adjourn this matter and judgement will be on notice but before we arise, I am asking my sister and three brothers to also say a word. Thank you so much.

Justice Remmy Kasule

We are all here as Ugandans and it’s because of that that we are involved in this event. We came to Mbale because we made a decision that Ugandans must begin to appreciate what constitutionalism is.
We have to respect it, we have to live the Constitution and the best way to do that is to have trials of constitutional issues to be appreciated by all Ugandans regardless of status, one’s sex or tribe because constitutionalism, because the constitution is the foundation of our faith, our everyday activities and it’s what will determine the wellbeing of the future generation, both ourselves and for the future.

We thank everyone, the counsel, the court administrators, the supporting staff, those who have accommodated us, those who have given us something to eat and we assure everyone that we shall be equal to the task. We are going to make a decision. That decision is to ensure that constitutionalism becomes the cornerstone of each and every one of us. Whatever the decision may be, there are ways of dealing with that decision. We comply with it and if we are not satisfied with it, the Supreme Court is there, they can also give their input.

So let us live the Constitution and let us respect exercises like this where constitutional disputes can be resolved peacefully and also ensuring that each and every one of us, remains with a duty to see that Uganda remains peaceful and is developed by each and every one of us. May the good Lord keep us in order to be able to carry out this exercise.

Justice Kenneth Kakuru
I want to thank and congratulate you my lord, the Hon the Deputy Chief Justice, my brothers and sister justices of this court. The honourable Attorney General, learned counsel for the petitioner, the petitioners yourselves and specifically Mr Mabirizi who has represented himself and the other petitioners that have come to court and brought this petitions and everyone. There comes a time in life when there are challenges beyond our personal interests and we are required to have a higher calling.

Every day comes with its own experiences. This has been an opportunity for us in our generation, in our time to come and do what we have just concluded, have a hearing of this nature for our children, for our grandchildren and even those grandparents and parents, they did their part and we have done ours.
We have discussed, we have argued and the burden falls on us.
This has also been a learning experience for me as an individual and as a judicial officer and I am sure it has been a learning experience for all of us, not just as the legal team of the petitioners, not just us the judges, but also the young lawyers, security and the whole nation.

We have learnt lessons. To the Attorney General and your team, sit down with your team and share the best practice experience that you have learnt as lawyers in preparations, in presentation, in everything that goes on with presentation.
I implore you as the head of the Bar to sit and reflect. If you watched the proceedings of the Supreme Court of Kenya in the general elections and you watched the proceedings in this court and you compare, what else do you think should be done for counsel, what lessons do we learn...Then what about the petitioners, I implore you to go back and sit down reflect and ….. I am sure the public has also learnt lessons and as we await, we have a prize to pay of what has gone on here, we have been away from our families, it has been tedious, that is the prize to pay but just by appearing as counsel, counsel for the attorney general, I think they also have a prize to pay, but we also have a lot to pay from this.

I want to assure you, I had no ill intention against anyone. Each person has a different temperament, some people are quiet, but that is my temperament and its okay.
Lawyers must not be like politicians, when we leave court, we ask the other counsel with whom we were almost at each other’s neck and say can you give me a lift. After here, cross to the other side, greet the people, I mean, let’s be simple. If anybody has been offended by my temperament, I am very sorry. Thank you so much and God Bless you.

Justice Elizabeth Musoke
I thank all of you for your cooperation. I noticed that at the beginning, emotions were high, people were getting offended so much. But I was happy that at least people had started stabilising and all acted professionally and I want to thank God for that.

I also want to thank God who has really kept all of us, we have been here for two weeks and God has kept us with none complaining of any ailments and we have managed to sit throughout. All the judges on the panel, the counsel and the petitioners with many of them being around, we have to really thank God who has kept us.
I have been listening to media, they are already saying the judgement has been already written and even allocating who is on this side, who is on the other side. I know don’t know where they got all that because we have to go back and read all this before we make a decision.

So if any impression was created that we came with already written judgement, we are sorry if such a situation was created. Most of you are going back to your normal routine, for us, we are going to the most difficult part to come up with our respective judgements. On my part, I really want to seek God’s wisdom, God to guide all of us to read through all that is before us so that we come through with a just conclusion. That is all I can say, otherwise thank you all of you.

Justice Cheborion Barishaki
When I first got these files before me and I looked through them, I found the work complex and then when the media reports started coming in. I was wondering whether I should continue with this matter but when we came down to do the work, I think the story changed for the better. I want to thank the lawyers on both sides for the good work they have put in.
The level of research in this petition has been very commendable, the authorities quoted from within the jurisdiction and outside have been very impressive. I want to also appreciate the team work on both sides. The petitions were so many, so many counsel but the way you worked without causing stress to others or to us is really commendable. This should be emulated because without the teamwork, we would not have come to this conclusion this fast.

I want to appreciate the press, the way they covered these proceedings live, that was a commendable job, especially to the people of this country who will appreciate the issue that we have been deliberating upon and also showing how courts operate.
I want to thank the DCJ for choosing to bring this petition to Mbale. I think the choice was good and I hope nobody regretted. We must appreciate the people of Mbale who developed interest in this matter. I am told the court rooms out there were full, the people in the streets were following the events and we thank them for according us a good reception.