By Spy Uganda
Uganda’s Court of Appeal Judge Kenneth Kakuru has died in Nairobi, Kenya at the age of 65.
Kakuru’s death was confirmed on Tuesday, March 7, 2023, by the country’s Judiciary spokesperson Jameson Karemani.
The outspoken judge had 2021 applied to retire seven years earlier due to a health condition he was dealing with.
This is to announce the death of Justice Kenneth Kakuru – Justice of Appeal. May He Rest in Peace pic.twitter.com/NNX0yfk0lP
— Judiciary Uganda (@JudiciaryUG) March 7, 2023
Kakuru gained fame for his dissenting judgment in the ‘age limit case’, and has been on the appellate court’s bench since 2013 when he was tapped from private practice.
In the aforementioned case, Kakuru was the only one of five judges to rule that the amendment of the Constitution in 2017 to remove lower and upper age limits for presidential and local government candidates was done illegally.
He based his ruling on several factors, but especially on what he called a lack of consultation with the public during the process of the amendment.
The four who dismissed the petition against the amendment were Alfonse Owiny-Dollo, then deputy chief justice and now Chief Justice, Justice Remmy Kasule, Justice Elizabeth Musoke, and Justice Cheborion Barishaki.