I do not hire people I know

What brings you alive?
I am always up to something. Actually, I am sometimes involved in a minimum of five projects. That brings me alive. I bring on my A game every day. 

As a lawyer, what genre of legal work do you do?
We mostly do commercial law. We are not specialised though, like in Britain, where they’re strictly barristers who go to court, and then solicitors who sit in the offices. Ours is fused.  Even in your commercial law, clients sometimes have corporate litigation needs. So it’s really a mixture of both. But there are some cases we do not do. We don’t do criminal law. So we don’t do murder. I have advised murder cases before but never at the front. I am mostly a commercial lawyer. But I have a fantastic team, which cuts across and we do pretty much most types of law except criminal.

How big is the team that you lead?
Altogether, we are 16 staff; six lawyers then legal assistants. We all put in our efforts to achieve whatever it is we’re working on so we have to know when to wear which hat.

How would you say you got to where you are today?
My story started so many years ago when my head teacher at Namugongo Secondary School,  John Chrysostom Muyingo asked me to study hard and ‘out the school on the map. 

I was already performing well. When the results were released, I didn’t like my performance but my father insisted that I go back to Namugongo for A’ Level.
I had wanted to go to an international school like Kabojja. Anyway, I went back to Namugongo and decided to read hard. 

I just knew my parents were not going to pay for my tuition even though they could afford it.
I had to join university on government sponsorship. I also challenged myself to become a national candidate and be published in the newspapers. I wanted to do Mass Communication which my sister had done but a friend insisted that I apply for law at Dar es Salaam University on an exchange programme. I obliged and I was at the university for four years after which I returned to Uganda and joined Law Development Centre (LDC) where I met students who thought I had ‘fluked’ becoming a national candidate. 

I was the best in my class in the postgraduate diploma for legal practice. I got the Chief Justice Award for Best Student Academic Excellence. 

I worked with  Kampala Associated Advocates (KAA). They are a fantastic team. I worked with distinguished people there; former deputy civil division and former solicitor general, so I soaked up all I could from them.
In 2012, I opened my own law firm- CR Amanya Advocates & Solicitors. We make 10 years next year in March.

What was it like for you to find your feet when you went solo?
It has not been easy, actually. When I had just left KAA.  I partnered with three gentlemen. They sold me a dream and it seemed nice. 

They all went to Harvard. So, I left KAA and joined them, and just after four months, the partnership was not working.

I had everything I needed to start my own firm and went ahead. My husband was so supportive. Nine years later, I’m still solo even though I’ve come close to partnering. I have received offers but sometimes it’s hard to find somebody who has the same ideology and values as you do.

As an employer, what do you look out for when hiring personnel?
I appreciate values. I don’t hire on the basis of knowing someone so I don’t hire people I know because many times they come with a sense of entitlement.

I select people on merit.  Sometimes, you can get somebody who is very good with the right academic papers but their work ethic and their attitude is so wrong and just kills the whole mood of the place. So for me, some of those things are so important for me.

What work ethic do you uphold as person?
As a person, you must be self motivated, able to push yourself, have certain values in place and must be very professional. 

In our field, if you get someone who is out for a quick buck, they will sell you out and that could lead you into trouble. You must be honest, a person of integrity and don’t compromise your standards.

When you look back at your career, who are those individual or that individual has had the most or the biggest impact on your career as a person?

I look up to people. One person that I really look up to is Lady Justice Julia Sebutende. I love that lady. I admired the way she conducted the police probe. 

It was said that men cried in front of her. And she is not even that tall but her career and her achievements just speak to me in a special way.

When I applied for a scholarship for a masters, I was asked to write about the person I look up to and wrote about her.

I got the scholarship because of her story. I try to emulate her. She’s very smart. The others are my parents because they have been very instrumental in my life.  They are business people who whose work ethic is on another level.

Letting her hair down 
I am very passionate about children. I love children so much so to let my hair down, I organise activities with my nephews and nieces. 

People have asked me to start a nursery or primary school. I’m very passionate about children and because of that, I’ve started an NGO called Autism Care Uganda to help children and adults with autism.  Such children sometimes have unique qualities. If I am not with children, I am in Rotary. I am the past president of the Rotary Club of Acacia Sunset.

I am also a member of former students of University of Dar es Salaam, Uganda students. We regularly organise social gatherings and mentorship programmes, because we have members who are flying high.