The
rift between judiciary and executive over the fate of Erias Lukwago as the lord
mayor of Kampala remains strange. Executive is saying he is no longer the lord
mayor while judiciary insist that he is the lord mayor until his main
application challenging Justice Catherine Bamugemereire recommendations is
determined and subsequent impeachment is also settled by High Court.
Electoral
Commission (EC) set 17th April as the day when Kampala mayor
by-election will take place. Kiggundu, EC chairperson told a news conference on
March 6 that EC had gone ahead to organise the by-election after getting
information from KCCA Minster Frank Tumwebaze, a member of executive that the
office of the lord mayor is vacant.
Back to ‘Black November’ 2013 and
court injunction
On
November 25th , the most controversial day during Lord Mayor’s impeachment process when Lukwago was kicked out of office. In a
special council meeting chaired by Frank Tumwebaze the minister in charge of
the Presidency and the Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA), 29 councillors
voted in favour of removing Lukwago while only three councillors were against.
On the same day High Court deputy Registrar
Fred Waninda issued an interim injunction, restraining Frank Tumwebaze
from implementing the vote of no confidence against Mr Lukwago, until the High
reviews the tribunal.
Unfortunately,
Mr Lukwago’s lawyer Abudullah Kiwanuka who had gone to KCCA to serve the
Tumwebaze with court injunction that had blocked his censure, was beaten up
like a chicken thief by plain-clothed police officers
On Thursday 28th,
High Court Judge Yasin Nyanzi ordered Frank Tumwebaze to stop the
implementation of the tribunal report that paved way for the censure of Erias
Lukwago until his main application challenging the Justice Catherine
Bamugemereire recommendations is determined. We are still waiting for it.
With the above injunction, I wonder which court order is the executive
waiting for to stop by-elections of the Lord Mayor?. Even if court offers another writ to Lukwago,
there are reasons to doubt whether Executive will be willing to respect it.
Unlike the executive, judiciary does have police, army, teargas,
financial resources and so on to fight the former in reprisal if necessary. In
addition, Article 142 of our constitution guarantees the president who is also
head of the executive power to appoint judges. “The Chief Justice, the Deputy Chief Justice, the Principal
Judge, a justice of the Supreme Court, a justice of Appeal and a judge of the
High Court shall be appointed by the President acting on the advice of the
Judicial Service Commission and with the approval of Parliament.”
The above authority and supremacy is enough for executive
to overpower article 128(sections 1, 2 and 3) of the constitution which
stipulate independence of judiciary. They state, “(1) in the exercise of
judicial power, the courts shall be independent and shall not be subject to the
control or direction of any person or authority, (2) no person or authority
shall interfere with the courts or judicial officers in the exercise of their
judicial functions, (3) All organs and agencies of the State shall accord to
the courts such assistance as may be required to ensure the effectiveness of
the courts.”
But now is the
time for judiciary to demonstrate its independence
Whenever
executive feels insecure about any court writ from judiciary, they can easily
overrun it. This is the reason why there is no reason to trust judiciary in vastly
political cases. Remember, EC recognised court orders to bring to a halt
process of organising by-elections for the expelled NRM rebel MPs. In the same
way, they (Electoral Commission) must listen, accept and enforce court order
hence accept Lukwago as the Lord Mayor as we wait for the final court ruling.
The executive must accept rule of law, even if
it is inconveniencing them, if Uganda is going to be labelled as country that
abides to the rule of law.
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