Ssemakadde: Abodo’s appointment as Principal Judge is a “Recipe for Disaster”

Kampala, Uganda: Uganda Law Society (ULS) President Isaac Ssemakadde has branded the purported appointment of Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Jane Frances Abodo as Principal Judge, describing it as “a recipe for disaster,” warning that the move entrenches judicial capture and accelerates public distrust in Uganda’s courts.

In a stinging statement released on Monday, September 1, 2025, Mr Ssemakadde, who currently leads the Bar in self-imposed exile, accused Justice Abodo of presiding over a “bent prosecutorial regime” marked by bias, abuse of power, and selective prosecutions.

The outspoken Radical New Bar head warned that her elevation to Principal Judge by a discredited Judicial Service Commission (JSC), despite a pending ULS petition (Constitutional Application No. 11 of 2025) challenging the legality of judicial appointments, would accelerate the erosion of judicial independence.

“This is a blatant violation of due process. Public trust in the judiciary has reached an all-time low, and Abodo’s elevation by a discredited JSC through an opaque process will only hasten its decline,” Ssemakadde said, adding that the process disregarded the Constitution and existing court orders.

Known for his uncompromising and hard-hitting critiques, the fiery lawyer, who heads the Radical New Bar, said Justice Abodo is unfit to preside over the Bench, accusing her of defying the Supreme Court’s directive in Attorney General v Kabaziguruka (Constitutional Appeal No. 2 of 2021), which ordered the transfer of civilians from military courts to civilian courts, a directive he claims she “deliberately shelved” during her tenure as DPP.

Long-Running Clashes with the Bench

Ssemakadde’s criticism comes against the backdrop of his bitter clashes with Uganda’s judiciary, where the outspoken counsel has repeatedly accused judges of being “a cartel of compromised actors.”

In 2023, he was threatened with contempt proceedings after he referred to some judicial officers as “puppets of the state,” sparking an uproar within the legal fraternity.

Just last year, his Radical New Bar mounted legal challenges against multiple judicial appointments, alleging that the JSC was improperly constituted and politically influenced. Those confrontations deepened his long-running feud with senior judges, some of whom have openly rebuked his methods.

His personal feud with Jane Frances Abodo is equally storied. As DPP, she clashed repeatedly with Ssemakadde, especially in politically sensitive prosecutions. He accused her office of weaponising the criminal justice system to crush critics of the government, while she branded him a reckless activist undermining the justice system.

The ULS President points to EACJ Reference No. 15 of 2020, a case where he successfully challenged Uganda before the East African Court of Justice, as evidence of her alleged evasiveness. “She has never accounted for that judgment, and instead doubled down on selective prosecutions,” he said.

‘Mascot’ Principal Judge

Ssemakadde further dismissed the Principal Judge’s office as already weakened, saying it has been reduced to “a ceremonial mascot and an artery of external influence.” Abodo’s appointment, he warned, would turn it into a “conduit for executive interference.”

“It is my hope that this downward trajectory will force a reckoning, making radical surgery of our judiciary undeniable. May she fail spectacularly!” he declared.