Author: Mr Karoli Ssemogerere is an Attorney-at-Law and an Advocate.
The Law Council of Uganda is the regulatory body in charge of the legal profession in Uganda. It is responsible for regulating, the admission, professional standards, legal education and discipline of advocates.
The franchise is protected through various enactments. Most important of all, the franchise is protected by the court’s independent power to regulate, administer and collect legal fees. In short, the relationship is mutually beneficial, advocates ply their trade in and outside of the courtroom and if they can’t come to terms with their clients, they have a unique recourse to the courts to tax their bill collect them as well without the full expense of a legal suit.
Let’s break it down, the club has grown too big, too international to fit the old idea of a “closed’ club where everyone knew each other by name. The Law Society today boasts today, not just hundreds but thousands of members. 18 Law Schools are churning out lawyers every year.
One unique university, the Islamic University in Uganda has not just one, but 3 law schools, in Mbale, Kibuli and Kabojja! A few of these appeal to Uganda’s religious background. The Catholics, Protestants, Muslims and Pentecostals each have their own law school. Why would a simple pro-hac vice admission rattle the profession so much this week? First, the applicant was not an ordinary run of the mill, applicant.
Martha Karua, is a close personal friend of the principals involved. Second, the General Court Martial could have benefited from interpretation of Kenyan law, since the alleged offences were committed solely within the territory of the Republic of Kenya. Karua is 67 years old, hardly a disturbance in the court room, a former Minister of Justice, at the crossroads of Kenya’s very difficult democratic experiment.
In 2008, after the ethnic clashes followed a troubled election; she left government after a power sharing deal brought Raila Odinga into government as Prime Minister. In 2022, she ran as Raila Odinga’s running mate, an effort that fell flat, doomed by the chicaneries of Kenyan politics. Her former partner Mr Odinga and his party, ODM are now in cohabitation in government.
The iron lady of Kenya’s politics, locked out of Parliament has not lost her step in an attempt to keep the liberal dream of Kenya’s society alive. Her NARC Kenya headquarters is a two-storey building; flag flying high on Woodland Road off Lenana Road, bigger than the headquarters of all political parties in Uganda except the Uganda Peoples Congress housed on Kampala Road in Uganda House. Unfortunately, NARC Kenya is a shadow of its former self without any parliamentary representation.
Interestingly, the major events in Kenya this year, the riots, impeachment of the Deputy President and other Governors seem set to turn this dream on its stomach. A member of the Law Council in a conversation shortly after the decision was rendered last evening felt, perhaps Martha should have stepped higher on the legal stage, with a reference to the East African Court of Justice, rather than downtown to a military tribunal.
Dr Kizza Besigye in any event had more than 30 lawyers on his side. She could also come as a witness especially. But then where does this leave pro hac vice, a simple, painless procedure that should be routine, where a matter would benefit from a foreign lawyer’s bill or acumen. It doesn’t hurt the franchise in any way. Who never saw a lawyer to benefit from a slightly higher profile? This is harmless on its own as long as they effectively represent their client.
East Africa suffered a small pinch somehow. It also laid to bear the effect of the absence of mutual recognition agreements to formalise this right of audience. Breakfast in Kampala, Lunch in Nairobi, dinner in Dar es Salaam. That was the vision of the East African Community and emotive return to the Community. I track my classmate, an Architect by his ringtone, whether he is in Kisumu or Mwanza. I regularly read court briefs defending Karura Forest, Ngong Forest and Oloolua Forest from new highways etc. I don’t see a problem at all, if a human rights lawyer is ready on her feet and has accepted to argue her client’s case in a military tribunal.
Mr Ssemogerere is an Attorney-At-Law and an Advocate.
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