Justice Tabaro to head Mak staff appeals tribunal

Retired High Court Judge, John Patrick Mashongo Tabaro has been appointed the new chairperson of the Makerere University Staff Appeals Tribunal. 

Justice Tabaro was appointed by the Makerere Chancellor Prof Ezra Suruma.

"By the powers vested in me under section 56(1) of the Universities and other tertiary institutions Act, appoint Mr John Patrick Tabaro to head the staff tribunal for four years," the appointment letter reads. Justice Tabaro replaces Mr George Omunyokol whose term ended in March.

Justice Tabaro who started out as a Magistrate in 1976 rising through the ranks to become a Constitutional Court Judge, Acting Principal Judge among other roles, has served for over 36 years.

He is currently a senior legal consultant, specialist in mediation and arbitration at KTA Advocates formerly Karuhanga & Tabaro Advocates, a premier law firm in Uganda with industry-leading expertise in Intellectual Property, Technology, Corporate and Commercial law and Dispute resolution.

While in the judiciary, Justice Tabaro chaired high profile commissions of inquiry. Key among them was a probe into the expansion of Owen Falls Dam, over US$100million World Bank funded project between 1996 and 1997, and the Judicial Disciplinary Committee.

Justice Tabaro was also the immediate former Patron of the Makerere University Law Society in 2004/2005.

Mr Isaac Ssemakadde, the chief legal advisor for the Joint Staff Associations (MUASA, MASA & NUEI), said that Justice Tabaro has immense wealth of experience and legal knowledge.

"Makerere is presently in a state of quagmire, captured and controlled by a cabal of selfish careerists who are responsible for sowing seeds of conflict and decadence at all levels. It needs someone with a Midas touch to restore faith in its internal systems and policies for labour relations and academic excellence. I hope he will receive the support of the management, staff and other stakeholders," Mr Ssemakadde said.

He added that his appointment is a timely and welcome development.

Justice Tabaro joins the Makerere Staff Appeals Tribunal at a time staff are agitated about some sticky issues of labour relations at the University where there are concerns that the Tribunal is not fully facilitated to hear staff appeals expeditiously.

As of December 2018, there were 11 appeals resulting from the University Appointments Board decisions. 

Among these are eight staff who were dismissed and removed from the payroll in direct contravention of section 57(5) of the UOTIA and section 5.14 (c) of the Human Resources Manual.

The staff include; Perez Arinaitwe, Steven Tumutegyeraize, Dr James Ocita, Prof Charles Niwagaba, Dr Mushomi John Atwebembeire, Dr Juma Anthony Okuku, Dr Stella Nyanzi and Dr Denis Asiimwe among others.

Additional reporting by URN