Faces, profiles of 15 new judge nominees

Justice Irene Mulyagonja
Justice Irene Mulyagonja is the current Inspector General of Government (IGG), a position she was appointed to in April 2012. She was serving her second and last term, which ends early next year.
Prior to her appointment as the ombudsman, Ms Mulyagonja was a judge of the High Court, where she had served for four years.

Her appointment to the second highest court in the land comes at a time when she had come under heavy criticism by the President for not doing much in fighting corruption, a move that saw him create a parallel anti-corruption agency to support her in fighting the cancer of corruption in the country. The new anti-corruption agency dubbed the ‘State House anti-corruption unit’ is headed by Lt Col Edith Nakalema.

Immaculate Busingye
Prior to her appointment, High Court judge designate Immaculate Busingye was the Inspector of Courts, a position she has held since 2017. Before that, she served as a Deputy Registrar in the Inspectorate of Courts. She joined the Judiciary in 2003 as a Grade One Magistrate and has steadily been going through the ranks.
The PhD candidate boasts of a Masters in Management Studies from Uganda Management Institute and a Master of Laws from the University of London, specialised in Corporate and Commercial law.

She worked as a consultant for Society of Women against Aids in Africa, Uganda and developed a handbook on writing Wills for HIV orphans and widows; Rights of HIV Affected Children; Land Law and HIV Patients, and Disposal on Property after Death.

Esta Nambayo
Ms Esta Nambayo is the outgoing Chief Registrar of Courts of Judicature, which is the fourth most powerful management position in the Judiciary hierarchy.
She leaves the Chief Registrar job after a very short spell of slightly a year. She previously worked as the deputy registrar at the High Court, Land Division and Court of Appeal/Constitutional Court.
She has also ever worked as the Acting Asst Registrar of Land Division, Chief Magistrate at Mengo, Nakawa and Makindye courts in Kampala.

She also worked as Chief Magistrate and at the same time as acting deputy Registrar of Mbarara Court.
The other dockets that she has ever held are; Magistrate Grade One at Luweero, Nakasongola and City Hall courts. She began her legal career as the legal officer with International Association of Women Lawyers.
One of the high profile cases that she has ever handled involved the late Cerinah Nebanda (then Butaleja District Woman MP).
She went on to convict Adam Suleiman Kalungi, the key suspect on manslaughter charges and sentenced him to four years imprisonment.
However, the High Court later on appeal, over turned her conviction and set Kalungi free.

Victoria Katamba Nakintu Nkwanga
Ms Katamba is an Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators graduate and a holder of a Bachelor of Laws Degree from Makerere University.
Ms Katamba has more than 15 years’ work experience in legal practice. She first worked as a legal assistant for Messrs Ayigihugu & Co. Advocates for six months.
During that time, she was introduced to the basics of legal practice. She then joined Messrs Karuhanga & Advocates, where she transitioned from interacting with the regular walk-in clients to dealing with mostly corporate clients. While at Karuhanga, she developed her skills in writing, drafting and client servicing.

She gained vast experience in conveyance and under the mentorship and guidance of the now retired Justice David Porter, was introduced to the family law area of adoption.
Her legal career saw her join Kampala Associated Advocates (KAA) when Karuhanga & Advocates merged with other leading practitioners to establish it. It was at KAA that she was introduced to international legal practice, especially through its partnership with Denton Wilde Sapte.

Ms Katamba has a good understanding of the law, excellent writing, communication and presentation skills.
She left KAA to set up her own practice, Nkwanga & Partners in September 2004.
This was primarily to obtain the necessary work-life balance that was much needed in her life at the time.

Jane Okuo Kajuga
Prior to her appointment as the judge of the High Court, Ms Okuo had been the spokesperson of the office of the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP). She became the face of the office of the DPP after being the spokesperson for the prosecuting institution for a long period of more than 10 years. At the same time, she had been the Senior Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions.
She began her legal career as prosecutor at the DPP’s office with her core work being perusal of files, preparation of legal opinions and prosecution of cases in 1999.

Throughout the years, she grew in rank and served at many duty stations, including Buganda Road Court and Nakawa Chief Magistrates Court, among others. Some of the high profile cases that she has prosecuted, include; the late Teddy Ssezi Cheeye over global Fund, who was sentenced to 10 years, Annaliza Mondon and Elizabeth Ngororano (convicted by the High Court and acquitted on appeal by the Court of Appeal over corruption) and prosecuted Stephen Wakhweya (sentenced to three years), among others.

Ms Okuo was also a lethal prosecutor in murder cases. Some of the high profile murder cases that she successfully prosecuted included; Uganda versus ASP James Peter Aurien (on death row for murder of his wife while stationed as DPC of Lugazi), Uganda versus Apollo Nyangasi (life imprisonment for murder of his wife while employed as head of the medical workers Union), Uganda versus Kato Kajubi (handled the appeal at the Court of Appeal against his initial acquittal and secured an order for retrial).
Others murder cases are; Uganda versus Jackeline Nsenga Uwera (convicted for murder of her husband and sentenced to 20 years imprisonment) Uganda versus Wang Nan (Chinese national sentenced to death for murder of his Uncle in Wandegeya flats) Uganda versus Ivan Kamyuka (convicted for manslaughter which occurred in Club Gov’nor)

Vincent Emmy Mugabo
Justice Mugabo, was born on December 25, 1974.
He is a career judicial officer who joined the Judiciary as a Magistrate Grade One in 2000.
He rose through the ranks to his current position of Registrar of the Supreme Court. He is also the current Public Relations Officer of the Judiciary.

Justice Mugabo is the immediate past president of the Uganda Judicial Officers Association (UJOA), an umbrella body for all judicial officers in the country - a portfolio he held for four years. He was also the chairperson of the Peer Committee on Ethics and Integrity for Chief Magistrates Central Region. In 2011, he was recognised in the Justice, Law and Order Sector Integrity Committee Report for his excellent performance as Chief Magistrate of Buganda Road Court in the Annual Nation Wide Field Visits.
In 2012, as Chief Magistrate at the Mengo Chief Magistrate’s Court, he participated in the successful pilot programme of Small Claims Procedure, earning the Judiciary the 2013 Public Sector Innovations award from the Ministry of Public Service - recognising their contribution towards improving service delivery in Uganda.

Since 2014, at the Mediation Registry, he has been involved in training Justice, Law and Order Sector staff in Alternative Dispute Resolution focusing on Mediation.
As Deputy Registrar, he has coordinated the successful roll out of Mediation in High Court Divisions and Circuits as well as Magistrates Courts in a bid to clear case backlog. In 2016,he received an award from the Uganda Christian Lawyers’ Fraternity in Recognition of Professionalism and Integrity.

Monica Mugenyi Kalegira
Justice Mugenyi is currently, the Principal Judge of the East Africa Court of Justice based in Tanzania.
She was appointed by President Museveni as a High Court judge in June 2010.
During her stay at the High Court bench, Justice Mugenyi handled the high profile case involving Lydia Draru, a woman who was convicted for manslaughter in 2011, for having killed former army commander, Maj Gen James Kazini.
Justice Mugenyi then sentenced Draru to 14 years in jail.
Prosecution told court that Ms Draru hit Maj Gen Kazini with an iron bar on the head and killed him on November 10, 2009 at her rented home in Wabigalo, Makindye Division in Kampala.

Besides holding a Bachelor’s Degree in Laws and a Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practice from the Law Development Centre, Justice Mugenyi holds a Masters in International Trade Law from the University of Essex in the United Kingdom.
Prior to her ascension to the Bench, Justice Mugenyi was in private practice at Mugenyi & Company Advocates and had served as the manager of corporate services at the Uganda Road Fund.
She also previously worked in the office of the Attorney General and in the Privatisation Unit.

Isah Serunkuma
Justice Isah Serunkuma, at the time of his appointment, was the Registrar Executions & Bailiffs Division.
He has also previously served as the acting Registrar, Magistrates Affairs and Data Management.
Before, he was Deputy Registrar in-charge of Special Projects in the Chambers of the Chief Registrar.
He joined the Judiciary in 1994, as a Magistrate Grade III trainee and has grown through the ranks to the level of deputy registrar.
He is a member of the Uganda Young Professional Managers Association and International Association for Refugee Law Judges.
He has published several papers, including ‘A Critique of the Land Act of Uganda: Challenges of Implementation and the Effect on Land Disputes’ - published in Commonwealth Judicial Journal.

Phillip Odoki
High Court judge designate Phillip Odoki is a career judicial officer, who started his journey at the Judiciary as a Magistrate Grade One in 2000.
At the time of his appointment, he was the private legal secretary to Deputy Chief Justice Alfonse Owiny-Dollo.
Previously, he was Deputy Registrar- Appellate Mediation. Prior to that assignment, he was the Deputy Registrar for Training and was able to organise 65 training activities for judicial and non-judicial officers both within and outside the country in diverse subjects.
A man of firsts, Mr Odoki was the first Private Legal Secretary to current Chief Justice Bart M. Katureebe. In the role, he carried out research, drafted judgments, papers for presentations and speeches, took meeting minutes, managed the protocol requirements and supervised the staff of the Chambers of the Chief Justice.
While serving as Chief Magistrate, Mr Odoki was recognised by the Chief Registrar for his impressive clearance of cases and developing a detailed reporting tool, which was eventually adopted by the entire Judiciary, with minor improvements.
In 2013, still as Chief Magistrate of Mbarara, he conceived the idea of mobile courts for refugees and was the first Chief Magistrate to conduct a mobile Court at Nakivale Refugee Settlement Camp.
This innovation was widely reported in international media and the press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva as the best way of improving access to justice for refugees.

That same year, he was recognised by the Uganda Police Force for his outstanding contribution towards the growth of the police and the community.
He is credited as the first Chief Magistrate in Mengo Court to introduce the case management system of allocating each case one hour, thus eliminating overcrowding of advocates and litigants in the court.

Jeanne Rwakakoko
At the time of her appointment, Jeanne Rwakakoko was an advocate in private practice.
She was representing a wide range of clients principally in the areas of telecommunications, corporate and company finance, where she focuses on guiding both big and small growth-oriented companies through the corporate finance process, civil and commercial litigations.
Other areas of focus are; conveyancing, employment contracts and disputes, and international joint ventures, among others.

Isaac Muwata
At the time of his appointment as the High Court judge, Justice Muwata was the registrar of Research and Training at the Judicial Training Institute in Nakawa, a training arm of the Judiciary.
Previously, he acted as the Chief Registrar at Courts of Judicature, After the then substantive Chief Registrar Paul Gadenya was appointed a High Court judge.
He held the acting position for about six months. He is a career judicial officer, who had been at the rank of registrar for a very long time.

Boniface Wamala
The High Court judge designate was the principal legal secretary to Chief Justice Bart Katureebe.
Previously, he was the Chief Magistrate at Mengo Court.
He is also a career judicial officer, who has risen through the ranks.

Susan Abinyo
Justice Abinyo was, at the time of her appointment, a registrar in charge of Magistrates Affairs and Data Management. Prior to that, she served as Deputy Registrar, first at Mbarara High Court and later as Personal Assistant to the Chief Registrar/Deputy Registrar Projects.
She joined the Judiciary in 2003 as a Magistrate Grade One.
Between 2011 and 2014, she served as Principal Magistrate Grade One, before being promoted to Chief Magistrate, a position she served for two years and became Deputy Registrar.

Muzamiru Kibeedi Mutangula
Mr Kibeedi has been in private practice for the last 26 years at the time of his appointment to the Court of Appeal/Constitutional Court.
He has been a transitioning lawyer, having started out as a Constitutional Rights Enforcement lawyer to Property Development and Taxation Planning for family business.
He is also remembered for having represented former Rubaga South MP John Ken Lukyamuzi in the famous non-declaration of his wealth by the Inspector General of Government under the Leadership Code. He has been an active player in lobbying for favourable policies and laws as regarding to property development.
Justice Kibeedi has also represented several government institutions in court such as Makerere University, National Drug Authority, Kyambogo University and Uganda Printing and Publishing Corporation.