Kagole's prolonged forced leave illegal, court rules

The indefinite forced leave imposed on former Judiciary Permanent Secretary, Mr Kagole Kivumbi mid last year,  has since become illegal, the High Court in Kampala has ruled.

The same court has further held that the continued forced leave ought to be lifted so that Mr Kagole's rights are not endlessly abused, 15 months on.

Mr Kagole was sent on forced leave by the head of Public Service, Dr John Mitala on July 26, 2019, while acting on the directives of President Museveni as the appointing authority.

Mr Kagole had been accused of financial impropriety amounting to Shs34 billion meant for Judiciary activities.

The forced leave was meant to pave way for investigations by the Inspectorate of Government (IGG).

However, presiding judge Musa Ssekaana, in his ruling earlier today, held that the forced leave against Kagole was in the initial stages justified but it has since become illegal for being indefinite as it has no timeframe.

"The power to send an employee on forced leave ought to be checked with a time frame within which it must end to check its potential abuse. The decision of sending Mr Kagole on forced leave was therefore, legal and reasonable in the initial stages by the appointing authority (President Museveni) but it has since become illegal and unreasonable since it has become an indefinite forced leave," Justice Ssekaana held.

He continued: “The application succeeds in part with a declatory order that an indefinite forced leave is illegal and unreasonable."

Justice Ssekaana also ordered each party to bear their own costs they used in pursuing the matter.

He reasoned that since the matter was brought as a public interest litigation, the applicant, Mr Paul Mukiibi and the Attorney General, the sole respondent should each bear their own costs.

Further in his analysis, Justice Ssekaana observed that 15 months after sending Mr Kagole on forced leave and there is no outcome from the investigations, means that the allegations brought against him, are baseless.

".... but after a period of over 15 months without any outcome of the investigations, it becomes suspicious whether it was not made on baseless allegations," held Justice Ssekaana.

"In the beginning, it was legal and reasonable in the circumstances but after such a long time, it became illegal and unreasonable since the head of Public Service who communicated the decision, has not given any definite answer when the forced leave will end. The unending investigation for this period of time would imply that there was no wrongdoing and the continued forced leave ought to be lifted so that Mr Kagole's rights are not abused endlessly," he added.

Earlier this year, lawyer Mukiibi sued the Attorney General, challenging the indefinite forced leave imposed upon Mr Kagole.

He argued that the forced leave was unknown in the law, especially in public service and that the same ought to be quashed by court since it was procedurally improper.

Dr Mitala had in his affidavit to defend the Attorney General in having Mr Kagole sent on forced leave, stated that the law allows the temporary removal of a public officer from exercising his/her duties while an investigation goes on.

He also stated that the temporary removal of Mr Kagole from office was an administrative measure with the discretion of the appointing authority.

Kagole was suspended from Judiciary and replaced by Mr Pius Bigirimana.

In May this year President Museveni renewed Mr Bigirimana’s contract three more years.

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