Court raid was my worst career moment - Bamwine

Who is Justice Yorokamu Bamwine and who/what inspired you to become a lawyer?
I was born in Kitagata in the present Sheema District. At the age of 11, we shifted to another part of Uganda called Isingiro and we lived there until 1985 when I bought land in Kashari County, Mbarara District, and that is where I live at the moment.

I did arts at Nabumali High School. I was aware that many students, who were offering law at the university, came from Nabumali High School, hence the reason for joining Law school. I had earlier interacted with a Grade Two magistrate who came to speak to us on career day in secondary school.

You have been referred to as the father of plea bargaining and sentencing guidelines. Is that so?
Plea bargaining started during my tenure but the idea had earlier been considered by my predecessor, Justice James Ogoola, and a number of judges who went for bench-marking in the USA.

My predecessor did not go deep into it, it was only after we entered into a memorandum of understanding with Pepperdine University that we were able to officially start it since we wanted it to be formal. I participated in preparing the practice on plea bargaining since we don’t have a law on it now.

The sentencing guidelines had been conceived about 10 years earlier and when I was made the chairperson of the committee for the development of sentencing guidelines, I put in my all and by 2013, we had them. So it is not true that I am the father of plea bargaining and sentencing guidelines. I just propelled the ideas.

During your tenure, did you at any time get any political/ Executive pressure to make certain decisions? As Principal Judge, I cannot run away from dealing with the Executive but I did not receive any directive to do this or that. I do not think I would have done it because I can’t do something against my will.

Government has enhanced salaries of judicial officers. Do you think the pay rise will stop corruption in the Judiciary?
My view is that people are not corrupt because of little pay since there will never be enough salary. As a judicial officer, you take oath to do justice to all manner of people without fear or favour.

The improved salary will motivate judicial officers but even then, the accusations of corruption will not go away because anybody who has tasted money through bribery will continue to be tempted despite having a lot of money until he/she repents or is born again.

The elephant in the room is that you are one of those eyeing the position of the Chief Justice that will soon fall vacant.
I don’t know how I will be picked from outside to be Chief Justice. These days, the practice is to advertise and interested candidates respond. Yes, I may be eligible but after signing out, I will find it difficult to apply for the job. However, if I am picked on merit, that is a different matter.

I will work out plans during my retirement but want to first rest for a month or two, relax and ideas will start flowing. But I love mediation; I love alternative dispute resolutions and mediation in particular. Given an opportunity, I will open up an office in Kampala and if there are people interested in my service as a mediator, I will handle such work at fee.

Take note that I am not keen to do arbitration. In my view, it keeps you in that position of decision making as a judge with the decision most likely to be reviewed on appeal, so for the time being, I don’t have any ambition for arbitration.
The sort of mediation I have in mind is for disputes where parties are yet to subject themselves to the legal process.

Do you leave the Judiciary in a better standing?
Yes, I joined the Judiciary at the time when it was not quite attractive to work in. The salary was low and the tools were almost not there. Judicial officers had low morale. I am leaving at the time when those challenges have been worked upon such that more people want to join the Judiciary not for money making but as an admirable institution.

What are your memorable judicial decisions?
One is when the author of the national anthem (Prof George Wilberforce Kakoma) wanted billions of shillings as compensation. I offered him none but I awarded him an ex-gratia payment, which he thought was belittling him and he lodged an appeal. However, the appellate court not only agreed with me in principal but also set aside the ex-gratia order I had earlier made in his favour. This case gave me sleepless nights because there was no literature developed on intellectual property.

What was the most difficult moment in your career?
The one that comes into my mind was when I was the chief registrar/ accounting officer of the Judiciary and the powers that be at the time thought that for one to be an accounting officer, he or she needed to have studied accounts. I was made to write to the Public Service ministry, suggesting a system that would favour non-lawyers to come to the Judiciary as accounting officers, something I don’t believe in. Before I put my ideas down, I thought of resigning but on second thought, I opted against the move as I would be misunderstood.

If there was a chance of being a judicial officer again, what would can you do or not do differently?
I would not over tax my body through writing judgments “day-in” and “day-out” to the extent of injuring my hand for the sake of accessing justice to those who need it. I would take my time if I were to do things again. I think I over worked myself and too much of anything is bad.

What is the Judiciary’s biggest challenge?
The lack of human resource, especially at the High Court level, is the biggest challenge. For example, we are 50 judges there doing the work of 100 judges and that extra load is having a toll on judicial officers’ health. We would wish more and more people accessing justice in a speedy manner but we can only do much because of this limitation. In this country, people are yearning for justice and we have many inmates on remand waiting to be tried but we cannot speed it because we are few and that hurts me.

What was your best and worst moment as PJ?
I have been a happy person generally but my best moment was when I was sworn-in as the Principal Judge. Why, because I thank the person who spotted my talent in administration and I found the appointment worthy humbling.

The worst moment was the raid on Makindye Chief Magistrate’s Court. I felt bad about it and also the continued re-arrest of suspects, who have been released on bail, at court. This is because our Constitution presumes us all innocent until proven guilty; those two raids worked on my mind. I remember the last one that happened at International Crimes Division of the High Court involving the Kaweesi murder suspects. The Deputy Chief Justice and I drafted a statement condemning the same.

What is that unfinished business that your successor will have handle?
As the head of sentencing guidelines committee, we had started on guidelines on petty offences and also reviewing the guidelines again on capital offences but I will not finish that task. My view has been to put the International Crimes Division at the level of an international tribunal/ court but we shall lack human resources, the judges are few and the court’s facilitation is still poor.

This has led to many cases pending, including that of Rwenzururu king (Mumbere) which I thought by the time I would leave, the matter could have been heard but it has not been possible. The main reason has been not having enough space/ courtroom to accommodate over 200 suspects. We thought we could use the LDC auditorium but on a second thought, the trial will have to take more than two years and yet this is an education institution. But all is not lost; I hope my successor will see the unfinished tasks.

What advice do you give to young judicial officers?
They should not be in the Judiciary for the sake of earning money but to serve humanity. The richest wealth in this world is wisdom and the strongest weapon is patience. They should be patient and be faithful to the institution they serve.

Bamwine angered by Mumbere delayed trial

Outgoing Principal Judge Yorokamu Bamwine is unhappy to be retiring without the trial of Rwenzururu king Charles Wesley Mumbere starting.

Justice Bamwine explained that the high profile trial has been hampered by lack of a spacious courtroom to accommodate the more than 200 suspects in the case. “We thought we could use the Law Development Centre auditorium but on a second thought, the trial will have to take more than two years and yet this is an education institution. But all is not lost; I hope my successor will see the unfinished tasks.”

The Omusinga is facing grave charges ranging from terrorism, treason and murder to aggravated robbery. The charges arose from a raid on his palace in Kasese Town in November 2016.

The king was arrested alongside his subjects, who were mainly royal guards, and charged before Jinja Magistrates Court, a few days later their brutal arrest. Three years later, the trial has never started despite him being committed to the International Crimes Division of the High Court. He is out on bail with his movements restricted to only three districts of Kampala, Wakiso and Jinja.