Uganda remains without a substantive Chief Justice one year after Benjamin Odoki retired at 70 — the age limit for the position according to the Constitution.

The leadership vacuum stems from a standoff in the Constitutional Court where legislator Gerald Karuhanga questioned Mr Odoki’s reappointment in July 2013, after he had officially left office on March 24.

Mr Karuhanga, a youth representative in parliament, is opposed to justices Steven Kavuma and Augustine Nshimye, who are part of the five-judge bench that was set to hear the petition.

The subject of the petition is “whether the decision of the President in re-appointing retired chief justice Benjamin Odoki as Chief Justice without the advice of the Judicial Service Commission is unconstitutional”.

READ: Does a showdown loom over reappointment of Odoki?

The Commission reportedly submitted three names to President Yoweri Museveni from which to select Odoki’s successor — Justice Bart Magunda Katureebe, a member of the Supreme Court, Justice Yorokamu Bamwine, the principal judge, and Justice Peter Kabatsi, the managing partner at Kampala Associated Advocates, one of Kampala’s leading law firms.

Mr Karuhanga has accused both Mr Kavuma and Mr Nshimye of bias on account of their close affiliations to the ruling NRM party, where both are founding members, as well as their previous judgements on matters where the NRM was perceived to have a huge stake.

For Mr Kavuma, Mr Karuhanga cites a double illegality. He says the Constitution does not provide for the position of Acting Chief Justice, to which Mr Odoki erroneously appointed Mr Kavuma on his very last day in office on June 24 after exhausting the three-month period provided to the occupant to see out pending assignments and clear out personal property.

He says Mr Odoki had no powers to appoint.

READ: Uganda on brink of constitutional crisis over unfilled judiciary posts

“We are waiting for records so that we can proceed to the Supreme Court to challenge their presence on the bench. They have unduly delayed, perhaps because they are not happy with the decision we want to take,” Mr Karuhanga told The EastAfrican. 

“Alternatively, we might consider going ahead with the case and use that same objection in case the judgement turns out the way we fear it will,” he added.

According to the Uganda Law Society, President Museveni has abdicated his constitutional duty by failing to appoint a chief justice and a deputy chief justice.

“Under Article 133 (2), it is the chief justice’s work to issue orders and directions to the courts necessary for the proper administration of justice. No orders can be legally issued. This continues to undermine the quality of justice that the people of Uganda are currently getting,” said Ruth Sebatindira, the president of ULS.

“The principal judge, as head of the High Court, assists the chief justice in the administration of justice. Without a chief justice, the principal judge’s work stagnates.

“Any new initiatives in the judiciary are stifled. For example, we are currently looking at introducing plea bargain rules, but how will they get the force of law without a Chief Justice endorsing them?” Ms Sebatindira added.

Concerned judges

The continued absence of a CJ was the highlight of 16th edition of the judges’ conference in January, where the judges likened themselves to sheep without a shepherd.

“The people of Uganda are watching to see what will happen to the Judiciary without a chief justice, without a deputy chief justice.

“They are wondering whether the courts will ensure fair and speedy trials; whether the courts will remain independent and impartial, and render justice to all without fear or favour,” Ms Sebatindira said at the conference.