CJ Katureebe assigned new cases a week to retirement

Chief Justice Bart Katureebe will preside over two more appeals to the Supreme Court even though his retirement date is just a week from now, Saturday Monitor has learnt.

Justice Katureebe clocks 70 years of age on June 20, and has in the past stressed that he will not seek to stick around when he reaches retirement age.

Addressing Old Boys and students of Namilyango College in March 2017, Justice Katureebe said: “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.”

In a cause-list released this week at the Supreme Court, Justice Katureebe will lead four other judges to determine two civil appeals.

One of the appeals is Patrick Kaumba Wiltshire Vs Ismail Dabule, with the corum to be led by Justice Katureebe. Other judges will comprise Justices Esther Kisaakye Kitimbo, Opio Awere, Faith Mwondah and Lillian Tibatemwa.

The same panel, still to be led by Justice Katureebe, will hear the final appeal in the case of Kamo Enterprises Ltd Vs Krystalline Salt Ltd. Hearing of both appeals will kick off on Tuesday.

The cause-list shows that the civil appeals and applications session will run from June 16 to July 14.
But even after the hearing, the panel is expected to retreat to write their judgements, meaning the disposal of the cases will take longer than the period indicated.

The Supreme Court has a total of 12 judges. In the panel to hear the two cases in which Justice Katureebe is included, seven of the 12 justices are left out. Those who are not on the panel are Justices Mike Chibita, Percy Night Tuhaise, Ezekiel Muhanguzi and Kahaibale Mugamba. The others are Richard Buteera, Eldard Mwanguhya, and Stella Arach-Amoko.

Justice Kisaakye Kitimbo, the current office-in-charge of the Supreme Court, when asked why she decided to include the retiring Chief Justice on the panel to start hearings next week, said: “He is still the Chief Justice and a Justice of the Courts of Judicature until June 20. And before that day, he is supposed to adjudicate matters before him,” she said.

She added: “The Constitution gives a retiring Chief Justice three months to complete pending matters. The pending matters will include the two appeals he will be hearing as indicated on the latest cause-list. There are also other pending matters that he had adjudicated before the courts were interrupted by Covid-19 outbreak, and he is expected to deliver judgments.”

According to Article 144 (1) of the Constitution, a retiring judge may stay in office for three more months in order to dispose of pending judicial work.

The issue of leaving the office of Chief Justice when the occupant clocks retirement age became controversial when, in 2014, then outgoing Chief Justice Benjamin Odoki, was re-appointed as Chief Justice on a two-year contract by President Museveni.

His re-appointment happened without the recommendation of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) as is required by law.

Aggrieved by this development, Ntungamo Municipality MP Gerald Karuhanga petitioned the Constitutional Court. In a majority judgment of 4:1, the court ruled that the two-year contract extension was unconstitutional and the reappointment was struck down.

Justice Lillian Tibatemwa who wrote the lead judgment, said: “In my view, the petition succeeds. Under the 1995 Constitution, a Chief Justice who has vacated office by reason of having attained the mandatory age of retirement, is not eligible for reappointment as Chief Justice of the Republic of Uganda.”

At that point, it was Justice Katureebe whose rise to the office of Chief Justice was being delayed because he had been recommended to the President as the most qualified candidate by the Judicial Service Commission. In the current case, such a scenario is unlikely to happen again because Justice Katureebe has not sought to stay on as Chief Justice after retirement.

The Judicial Service Commission has already conducted interviews and shared names of their preferred candidates to the President, with the race thought to be between Deputy Chief Justice Alfonse Owiny-Dollo and Supreme Court Judge Richard Buteera.

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