By Spy Uganda
HE. Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has appointed three Justices to the Supreme Court and also elevated his lawyer John Oscar Kihika as judge at the Court of Appeal.
Kihiika is the director for legal affairs for the ruling National Resistance Movement (NRM) party.
Those appointed to the Supreme Court are; Christopher Madrama, Elizabeth Musoke, and Stephen Musota.
Museveni confirmed the appointment of the above in a letter stating thus; “In exercise of powers vested in the President by Article 142(i) of the Constitution, I have acted on the advice of the Judicial Service Commission appointed justices of the Supreme Court.”
About The Three Justices
- Justice Christopher Madrama;
Born 60 years ago, Justice Christopher Madrama studied law at Makerere University where he graduated in 1989 with a bachelor’s degree in law before getting a diploma in legal practice from the Law Development Centre (LDC) a year later.
Justice Madrama is also a holder of a Master of Laws degree in women’s law from the University of Zimbabwe.
Madrama served as a State Attorney between 1990 and 1999 when he was elevated IN 1990 to Principal State Attorney.
Between 2001 and 2010, he served as a Principal Legal Associate at Katende Ssempebwa and Company Advocates before he later joined the bench.
In 2010 he was appointed to the High Court where he served in the Commercial Division and Executions Division.
Justice Madrama is remembered in a case where former Kampala Mayor, the late Nasser Ntege Ssebaggala dragged telecom giants MTN Uganda and SMS Media Limited to the Commercial Court for infringing on his copyrights by using his speeches as caller tunes. Ssebaggala however lost the case.
Justice Madrama was also appointed to the Court of Appeal in 2018.
2. Elizabeth Musoke
Musoke has a bachelor degree in law from Makerere University and a diploma in legal practice from the Law Development Centre.
Justice Elizabeth Musoke worked with the Ministry of Justice up to the rank of Principal State Attorney before she joined the Inspectorate of Government as Director for Legal Affairs in 1999.
She joined the bench when in 2013 she was appointed a High Court Judge, a position she served for two years until 2015 when she was appointed to the Court of Appeal which also doubles as the Constitutional Court.
Justice Elizabeth Musoke has served at the Court of Appeal for seven years until now when he was appointed by President Museveni to the Supreme Court. She was among those who handled the age limit case in Mbale.
3. Stephen Musota
Born 63 years ago, Justice Stephen Musota has a bachelor’s degree in law from Makerere University and a diploma in legal practice from the Law Development Centre.
Unlike the others, Musota started out as a grade one magistrate in 1984 before being elevated eight years later to senior Principal Magistrate Grade One in 1992.
He has also worked as a chief magistrate, deputy registrar, and registrar of the High Court and in 2000 he was appointed the chief registrar of the judiciary until 2004 when he joined the bench.
Justice Stephen Musota became a Court of Appeal judge in 2018 but he has also served on the Task Force on the Reforms of Criminal and Civil Laws in 2015, to which he was appointed by the Chief Justice.
He has served on the Case Backlog Reduction Committee of the Uganda Judiciary and also as a member of the Committee on Reform of Legislation on Civil Procedures in Uganda in 2017.
