What next for ULS, Ssemakadde after Ssekaana’s controversial ruling?

Kampala, (UG):- The Uganda Law Society (ULS) aka Radical New Bar has vowed to resist the detention of its president, Isaac Ssemakadde, in the wake of a controversial High Court ruling by Judge Musa Ssekaana that sentenced him [Ssemakadde] to two years in prison for contempt of court.

During a televised interview with NTV Uganda’s Mildred Pedun on Friday evening, ULS Vice President Mr Anthony Asiimwe dismissed Ssekaana’s ruling as “unfortunate and unprecedented,” asserting that the Bar would not allow its leader to be arrested.

“One thing I can assure you is that the president of Uganda Law Society will not be detained at any cost. We shall not allow that to happen, and it is not going to happen because, in any case, we look at this ruling as unfortunate. It’s unprecedented, and we don’t believe it will be implemented,” Asiimwe stated.

The ‘war’ between Ssemakadde and the Judiciary has been brewing for months, with tensions escalating recently at the opening of the New Law Year on February 7, where the Chief Justice, Alphonse Owiny-Dollo castigated Ssemakadde and demanded him to apologize for throwing jibes and insults to his judges.

However, Asiimwe during the Friday interview accused the Chief Justice of “weaponising the Judiciary” in an attempt to silence dissent, particularly targeting the radical stance of Ssemakadde and his push for accountability and judicial reforms.

“If you look at the events as they have been unfolding, I think even a Year One student would know that a person cannot act as a judge in their own case… Look at what happened on February 7 during the opening of the New Law Year; that was a warning issued. We saw the Chief Justice weaponising the Judiciary. Of course, it is a ploy to silence the radical new Bar in our demand for accountability and justice, beginning with the most outspoken—president Isaac Ssemakadde,” he remarked.

Asiimwe also criticized the ruling for being “one-sided,” arguing that Ssemakadde was not given a fair hearing.

“First of all, criticism is criticism, and if a judicial officer or any person in that position cannot take criticism as it is and chooses to fight back using such measures, it is very unfortunate and very wrong. They should be able to accept criticism. And again, this was a one-sided ruling where Ssemakadde was not heard. It’s just a one-sided ruling where someone comes up with allegations, and a judicial officer chooses to take advantage of the situation to punish or show their dissatisfaction in that manner,” he explained.

ULS’ Next Steps

According to Asiimwe, the RNB had already anticipated such an outcome and is prepared to counter it legally and strategically. “As I said, we’re not surprised by this. We saw it coming because it was clearly communicated. We were not caught off guard. We are aware of what the Judiciary is trying to do in a bid to silence the radical new Bar from demanding accountability,” he explained.

“And from the time of Executive Order Number Two, where we declared that we intend to radically fight for the independence of the Judiciary and also work towards weeding out the corrupt and incompetent judicial officers, it’s been a back-and-forth. It’s been an attack and trying to silence us.”

Asiimwe reiterated that ULS remains committed to its cause, pledging to continue advocating for judicial accountability and fighting corruption within the legal system.

“Now, as the radical Bar, we shall not stop at that. Our focus is on proceeding with fighting for accountability and weeding out incompetent and corrupt judicial officers from the Judiciary for the sake of the rule of law. We have a whole membership behind us on the legal steps to be taken to fight this kind of ruling.”

With ULS standing firm in its position, the coming days are expected to bring legal and institutional confrontations that could redefine the relationship between Uganda’s Judiciary (Bench) and the Bar.