By Oweyegha-Afunaduula
When he and his wife visited Jane and me at our humble home in Nawaka village a couple of years ago, it was a big surprise. Only God knew that the couple would visit us. It was a great honour to be visited by a Judge unexpectedly.
We did not know how to welcome and host a Judge, because in our more than 40 years together we had not had such an experience. However, it was a welcome experience because Judges become very remote from ordinary people once they are named on the Bench.
I had left the Judge at Busoga College, Mwiri in 1971 when I completed my Senior Six studies. I don’t remember what year he was in because it was not easy for me to follow every student although I was a school prefect.
I had also left him at Mwiri Primary School after completing my Junior Leaving education in 1965. It is possible he was in Primary Two with Professor Waswa Balunywa.
When I met the Judge again it was in 1976. He was working at the Chambers of former Minister Moses Kintu in Jinja. It was a good encounter. He told me he had risen to become the Head Prefect of Busoga College, Mwiri and then gone on to become a law graduate from Makerere University.
I remember he was a very social gentleman with a free talking style. I told him I had also graduated from the University of Dar-es-Salaam and was now working as a Fisheries Research Officer with the East African Marine Fisheries Research Organization of the East African Community. I told him to work hard and be consistent and build his character of integrity and honesty rather than manifest as just another character among characters.
I was not surprised when he was appointed a judge. He deserved it. And he had unique leadership qualities that would benefit the Judiciary of Uganda. I was not also surprised when he was hired as a judge in Seychelles.
We were, therefore, very happy when the Judge and his wife visited us. I knew it was a blameless, corruption-free Judge visiting. He introduced his wife and I introduced him to my wife and members of my family who were around, including Isaac Afunaduula who is a Senior Lawyer at the Ministry of Defense and a Dean at Victoria University. I liked the advice he gave to Isaac Afunaduula.
I am happy the Judge gave a good example to young lawyers and judges when he decided to study for and acquire a Ph.D in law, in keeping with his commitment to excellence in the administration of Justice, although there are some highly educated judges who are frustrating justice in the country.
If I were the Executive I would have appointed our visiting Judge Chief Justice of Uganda, but I am not. And my criteria for effective guardians of Justice are different.
I am sure the Judge in question is approaching retirement without any controversies during his service to the nation. Unfortunately, he will retire at a time when the Judiciary is having a serious test of its capacity to dispense justice, and when the Executive is insistent that civilians should be tried in military courts.
Although the Judiciary says civilians should not be tried in military courts, the Executive has pushed to have the UPDF Act rethought to make trying civilians in military courts legal. The ruling party is said to have approved. Because it dominates the Uganda Parliament, the Executive will get what it wants. It got the obnoxious laws it wanted. Why not this one?
The Judge I am writing about is Justice Dr Egonda Ntende (in photo below).
For God and My Country
