UGANDA: Judiciary has mafias, says judge

By Yasiin Mugerwa.

A High Court judge has criticised corruption in the ‘temple of justice’ and accused senior lawyers of conniving with the Attorney General’s Office to defraud “impoverished” Ugandans.

Justice Anup Singh Choudry, a British trained judge, called for stern action against a racket of ‘mafias’ in the country’s judicial system.

The justice, whose five-year stint on the bench has been engrossed in controversy over his past dealings in the UK where he worked for 23 years, described some lawyers in town as “dummies” for lacking understanding of the intricacies of the law. He criticised lawyers who are interested in legal fees from the client yet at the same time mismanaging the files and defrauding taxpayers.

In an interview with the Daily Monitor at the weekend, Justice Choudry proposed the need to recruit outside judges to break “the mold” in the Judiciary. “...the Attorney General’s Office has to be cleaned up if we are to protect public funds... the people and the major investors coming to our country need confidence in our judicial system,” he said.

On April 30, Justice Choudry wrote to the chairperson Judicial Service Commission, Justice James Ogoola, to investigate the circumstances under which Mr Erias Kisawuzi, the registrar at the Court of Appeal, allowed a lawyer, Mr Saverino Twinobusingye, to be awarded Shs13 billion, a bill almost twice the entire Judiciary’s annual wage bill.

Mr Twinobusingye had blocked Parliament from forcing Premier Amama Mbabazi, ministers Sam Kutesa and Hilary Onek, to ‘step aside’ over oil bribe allegations. Mr Choudry said Mr Kisawuzi should be investigated because such amounts “cannot be justified by any rhyme or reason”.

In his letter to Justice Ogoola, the judge said: “…I note that we are quick to criticise lower benches for the corruption. But it is these very people, mainly the registrars from the lower benches, who mostly enjoy the privilege of being appointed as High Court Judges and thereafter to the apex courts.” 

“I do sincerely pray that the JSC has not nominated these people to His Excellency for appointment to the higher bench...” the letter added.

While Mr Kisawuzi did not pick our calls or answer text messages requesting him to give his side of the story, the Judicial Service Commission secretary, Mr Kagole Kivumbi, said the JSC received Justice Choudry’s complaint and that they are handling the matter.

Justice Choudry said doubts around his integrity in legal practice are “diversionary tactics” and acts of jealousy. “I studied law from Cambridge and I was a successful lawyer in London, I used to beat the big boys and they were jealous,” he said.

Justice Choudry said his background was vetted and “there was no fraud, no misrepresentation and everything was disclosed”. He added: “I have no criminal record outside Uganda not even in Uganda and I was appointed properly under the 1995 Constitution.” Justice Choudry said when delivering his judgments, he does not refer to precedents from Ugandan courts because he is not sure whether they were compromised or not.

Source: Daily Monitor (08/05/2013): http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/Judiciary-has-mafias--says-judge/-/688334/1845462/-/r879upz/-/index.html