Details of her suit against the chief justice and five other key figures in the judiciary has lifted the veil on the behind-the-scenes operations and dealings.
It is clear Kisaakye is coming out after years of brewing frustration but without going through the merits of the petition, it is paramount to know the kind of person Kisaakye is, her fascinating and unconventional legal career.
As David Lumu writes through the views of people that have worked with her, the independent-mindedness of the most experienced judge on the Supreme court is her blessing as well as her undoing.
For anyone who has followed proceedings of the Supreme court, the day of delivering a judgment or ruling is often a choreographed process. It can be predictable as the Coram of justices determine each of the various issues in a case.
Sometimes, even a layman can foretell the direction of a ruling as judges take turns to deliver pronouncements. It is common to hear statements like: “I have had the benefit of reading in draft the judgment of my learned brother…I agree with him/her and I have nothing useful to add.”
However, Justice Kisaakye is an exception; in fact, she as a spoiler for such routines because she doesn’t always go with the flow in her judgments. In fact, her judgements clearly articulate her independent reasoning and interpretation of the law.
It is this ethos, which has an element of shock and surprise, that has for years unsettled some in the top level of the judiciary yet most times, she is always on the majority side of several judgments.
“The question is; should a Coram of judges need consensus? To me, by the time one is deemed fit to sit on the Supreme court bench, then he/she should be able to fully write their own individual judgments without need for prior knowledge of a colleague’s judgment,” said a senior lawyer who preferred anonymity.
As a result of Justice Kisaakye’s style of work, her dissenting rulings have often been more pronounced than when she is part of the majority. This was never truer than when she found herself alone in the Bobi Wine case.
The majority opinion that there was no need to give the petitioner an extension of time to file and serve additional affidavits, Justice Kisaakye dissented.
March 18, 2021 was the unfurling of the discontent within the judiciary when she was prevented from reading out her dissenting judgment. Her file was confiscated and the Supreme court was closed before she could proceed.
The incident began a spiral of events that culminated in Kisaakye’s unprecedented suit in the Constitutional court.
WHY IS SHE DIFFERENT?
The question remains; who is Kisaakye and what makes her unique? In Kisaakye’s well-documented career that dates back from 1981 when she emerged as the best law student at Makerere University, one thing stands out; she is very independent and is a strong advocate of women’s rights.
Insiders say that it is for this reason that in 2009, President Museveni picked her from Makerere University, where she was a law don, straight to the Supreme court.
It was at the urgency of her mentor, Prof Frederick Ssempebwa, who had been impressed by Kisaakye’s unique qualities and convictions, especially when it comes to women’s rights.
WOMEN’S RIGHTS CHAMPION
At just 49 years, she became the youngest ever justice at the Supreme court. Kisaakye had already curved out a career as women’s rights champion and some of her scholarly publications and papers written include: Employment Discrimination against Women Lawyers in Uganda: Lessons & Prospects for Enhancing Equal Opportunities for Women in Formal Employment, Human Rights Of Women And African Experiences and Women, Culture & Human Rights: With Special Reference to the Practices of Female, Genital Mutilation, Polygamy & Bride Price. Other notable publications include In Human Rights Of Women And African Experiences as well as Women and HIV Transmission in Uganda: An Evaluation of the Safer Sex Strategies, among others.
At Makerere University, where she onetime headed the Human Rights Peace Centre (Huripec), Kisaakye mostly taught the course units of human rights and family law but she also introduced Health and the Law as a course unit at the School of Law.
Dr Kisaakye’s service to promote women’s rights has earned her a number of awards. In 2017, the Uganda Law Society Female Lawyers Committee bestowed upon her the Female Lawyer Lifetime Achievement Award and before that, she received the Appreciation Award in 2005 for her services as chairperson and executive director, Uganda Network on Law, Ethics and HIV/Aids (UGANET). In 2019, the National Association of Women Judges of Uganda have her the Leadership Award
“Her legal grooming bred a progressive, independent-minded judge who believes in following the law to the letters,” said a senior lawyer who preferred anonymity.
Perhaps this defines her independent-minded approach at the Supreme court.
“It was the first time someone was plucked out of the academia and thrust to the Supreme court. Many judges start as magistrates or prosecutors and in the course of their work develop a particular style of working but Kisaakye arrived at the Supreme court without any biases or associations,” he added.
Several legal experts have reasoned that Kisaakye had a belief that ideally, she would implement what she taught at the university but the reality on the bench was different.
“It is a collective effort at the Supreme court and it is widely believed that justices have to back one another in all situations. However, Dr Kisaakye didn’t believe in blindly being a consensus judge,” intimated an insider at the Supreme court.
“Her school of thought is that all judges are independent, which is not the case. This made some of her colleagues uncomfortable, especially when her judgments expose their inefficiencies.”
Personal initiatives
On a personal level, Kisaakye is renowned for her philanthropy and for spearheading several community initiatives.
She was a key contributor to the construction of the 1,000-seater St Mark Kakumba Church in Kyanja and prior to that, she supported the renovation of St Stephens Kireka Church of Uganda.
What’s more, in 2018, she established the GRAFO Foundation which sponsors and runs mentoring and educational programmes in schools, on radio and in the community. It also partners with like-minded organizations to offer skills training, personal development, and integrity training programmes.
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