Kampala, Uganda: The Uganda Law Society (ULS) has condemned the brutal assassination of Kenyan lawyer Advocate Matthew Kyalo Mbobu, standing in solidarity with the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) ahead of their planned nationwide Purple Ribbon March on Friday, September 12, 2025.
Advocate Mbobu, a respected legal scholar and former Chairperson of Kenya’s Political Parties Dispute Tribunal, was gunned down on Tuesday, September 9, 2025, in a drive-by shooting along Magadi Road in Nairobi. The targeted killing has shocked the region’s legal fraternity, triggering outrage and demands for accountability.
In a statement issued on Thursday, ULS President Isaac K. Ssemakadde, Senior Counsel, described Mbobu’s death as “a grievous wound to the soul of justice in East Africa.” He noted that the murder bore the hallmarks of a premeditated assassination and forms part of a disturbing pattern of extrajudicial killings, abductions, and enforced disappearances across the region.
Mbobu, who had practiced law for more than three decades, was widely celebrated for his contributions to Kenya’s governance and judicial systems. His stewardship at the Political Parties Dispute Tribunal and scholarly writings shaped constitutionalism and party politics, earning him admiration across the East African legal community.
The ULS drew parallels between the Kenyan incident and Uganda’s own record of human rights violations, where activists, journalists, and opposition figures have in recent years faced abductions, torture, and violent repression.
In the statement, Ssemakadde accused security agencies of undermining constitutional guarantees of the right to life and civic freedoms, arguing that impunity has emboldened perpetrators across the region.
“As the East African region approaches critical election seasons, violence must not be normalized as a tool of silencing dissent,” he said, urging Uganda, Kenya, and other East African governments to “dismantle systems of impunity and restore the sanctity of the rule of law.”
DailyExpress understands that the Law Society of Kenya has announced that Friday’s Purple Ribbon March will honor Mbobu’s memory and protest rising attacks on legal practitioners in Kenya.
In solidarity with their Kenyan counterpart, the Uganda Law Society will observe its upcoming 16th Annual Rule of Law Week, slated for September 15-19, by encouraging Ugandan advocates to wear purple ribbons during nationwide activities.
Advocate Mbobu’s killing has since reignited regional debate on the safety of legal professionals and the shrinking civic space in East Africa, where both Kenya and Uganda head into tense political seasons amid growing criticism of state-sanctioned violence.
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