President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has appointed Moses Kawumi Kazibwe as the new deputy chief justice, filling a position that became vacant following the elevation of Flavian Zeija about three months ago.
According to a statement issued by State House Uganda on Thursday, the appointment forms part of efforts to strengthen leadership within the Judiciary.
Kazibwe, who has been serving at the Court of Appeal of Uganda and the Constitutional court, now assumes the second-highest office in Uganda’s judicial system.
In the same communication, the President also appointed Agnes Alum as chief registrar of the High court. She replaces Sarah Langa Siu, who was recently elevated to the position of High court judge.
The chief registrar oversees court administration and management of judicial operations, making the office central to the efficient delivery of justice.
Kazibwe was first appointed as a High court judge in May 2016, the same period when chief justice Zeija also joined the bench. The two have since risen through the ranks to occupy the top leadership positions in the Judiciary within a decade.
Before joining the appellate court, Kazibwe served as resident judge at the Mubende High court circuit, where he was credited for spearheading legal reforms, addressing case backlog and promoting public engagement initiatives such as Court Open Days.
He also previously served as presiding judge at the Kabale High court circuit before his deployment to Mubende in 2022. At the Court of Appeal, Kazibwe has participated in several special appellate sessions in Kampala aimed at reducing long-standing criminal case backlogs through targeted clearance initiatives. Â
What a paradox!
In my strongest opinion, Justice Moses Kawumi Kazibwe is more mature, sober and worthier than the current reactionary Chief Justice, who was debased (disabused) by the appointing authority and got sworn in, outside the premises of the Temple of Justice (the Supreme Court premises), but in a Kraal on a personal (Tibuhaburwa’s) Ranch in a Kisozi.
In other words, the current Chief Justice is Mr. M7 personal Chief Justice, for personal political agenda. Otherwise, never in the political history of this country have public institutions/offices been captured, personalized and abused.
E.g., in the good-old-days; the Judiciary and especially the Chief Justice’s office, was the highest, respected and Sacrosanct office. To the extent that: no public servant, including the president had equal or higher salary than the Chief Justice.
In other words, the Chief Justice’s salary was the benchmark and downward, by which every civil service rank’s: Tom, Dick, Harry and Mary’s salaries were arrived at (calculated by the Ministry of Public Service).
But today e.g., without a formula, sustainable budget and/or plan: our 86-years-old PROBLEM OF AFRICA, Gen Tibuhaburwa wakes in the morning and arbitrarily increases the salary of School Science teachers from Shs.600,000 (six hundred thousand only) to Shs.4,000,000 (four million only); leaving the Humanities School teachers resentful and languishing with Shs.600,000.
Recently, out of the blue, the man proposed the increment of RDC, Deputy and Assistants’ salaries from Shs.2,900,000; 2,500,000 and 1,800,000 respectively to Shs.9; 5 and 2.5 million.