By Spy Uganda
Kampala: President Museveni on Thursday appointed Justice Alfonse Owiny-Dollo as the new Chief Justice, becoming the 13th Chief Justice since 1962 when Uganda got its independence.
After the announcement, the first son of Uganda Muhoozi Kainerugaba a Lieutenant General in the Uganda People’s Defence Force, took it to his twitter handle and tweeted ” I want to congratulate our new Chief Justice, His Lordship Justice Alfonse Owiny-Dollo. God bless you your Lordship.”
Justice Owiny-Dollo has been the Acting Chief Justice since June 20 when then substantive Chief Justice Bart Katureebe retired upon clocking 70 years.
The Chief Justice is the head of the Judiciary, which is one of the three arms of State, and it is the fourth most powerful office in the country after that of the President, Vice president and Speaker of Parliament.
Justice Owiny-Dollo becomes the first Chief Justice to be elevated from the position of Deputy Chief Justice. The past Chief Justices were appointed from the Supreme Court Bench.
He became famous for having presided over the trial of the Kampala twin bombings in which he convicted several suspects for being behind the killing of at least 76 football fans at Kyadondo Rugby Club and Ethiopian Village in Kabalagala.
He also led a panel of five Justices to Mbale District, out of which four of them, upheld the scrapping of the age limit clauses from the Constitution by 317 MPs.
Now it means constitutionally that, he is also the head of Supreme Court in accompany of other ten other justices.
In the absence of the chief justice, the most senior member of the court presides. The court sits eight sessions a year with a break of two weeks between sessions to conduct research and write judgments. It has the power to uphold, reverse, substitute its judgment, or order a new trial when hearing an appeal from a lower court.
Here are some of the Chief Justices of Uganda ever since it got independence.
- Sir Andley Mckisak (1961-1962)
- KG Bennet (Ag Chief Justice) 1962-1963
- Sir Udo Udoma (1963-1969)
- Sir Dermont Sheridan, (1969-1971)
- Benedicto Kiwanuka (1971-1972)
- Samuel Wako Wambuzi (1972-1975)
- Mohamed Saied (1975-1979)
- amuel Wako Wambuzi (1979-1980)
- George Masika (1980-1985)
- Peter Allen (1985-1986)
- Samuel Wako Wambuzi (1986-2001)
- Benjamin Odoki (2001-2013)
- Steven Kavuma (2013-2015) Ag. Chief Justice
- Bart Katureebe (2015-2020)
