On July 18, 2023, I notified you of my decision to take early retirement from the Supreme court in accordance with Article144(1) of the Constitution.
On the same date, I submitted to you the attached second letter and detailed commentary on the Final Report of the Judicial Service Commission into the report of the events that took place at the Supreme court on March 18 & 19, 2021.
In my letter and commentary, I urged you to uphold the Constitution and not to act on both the unconstitutional final report and recommendation made by the Commission to you to set up a tribunal to inquire into my alleged misconduct.
On October 2, 2023, you deferred to recognize my early retirement on grounds that a tribunal of Inquiry was needed to inquire into allegations I had made about Chief Justice Owiny Dollo.
On February 6, 2025, one and a half years after my early retirement, you established a tribunal of Inquiry into my conduct through Legal Notice No. 4 of 2025. For over eight months now, the tribunal has failed to commence any proceedings, and I have not received any communication from the tribunal as to when it intends to start the inquiry.
ISSUES AT HAND
I have found it imperative to bring to your attention the following matters:
(i) Your decision of deferring acceptance of my early retirement from the Supreme court, contrary to clear provisions of the Constitution which you put in place, was wrong.
(ii) Your decision to appoint a tribunal of Inquiry about me one-and-a-half years after my early retirement from the Supreme court and which decision was based on a process, report and recommendation tainted by numerous violations of the Constitution by different actors, was also wrong.
(iii) The tribunal lacks jurisdiction, validity and legitimacy. Attached herewith please find a detailed Commentary on the tribunal I have prepared, for your review and information.
(iv) All the matters the tribunal is supposed to inquire into, as stated in your letter to me of October 2, 2023, were already admitted by the Chief Justice in April 2021 and again in October 2022.
(v) The appointment of the tribunal of Inquiry and holding proceedings about me – a retired incorruptible Judge with a clean judicial record – is a misplaced and misdirected effort.
The fact that many complaints/ reports of corruption by judges, lower-level judicial officers, politicians and public officials remain either uninvestigated or lukewarmly handled by different arms of the government sends a loud message that your government prefers to keep and work with corrupt judges, politicians and public officials to the non-corrupt ones.
(vi) The appointment of and holding of the tribunal proceedings about my conduct, is also a huge waste of public funds, which should instead be used to commission a Judiciary wide inquiry to improve justice delivery to investigate corruption scandals and to attend to other national priorities.
(vii) The legal advice that you received and acted upon to make the decisions to defer my retirement and appoint a tribunal, was provided by incompetent and/or self-seeking lawyers, who read and continue to read the Constitution while holding it upside down, for reasons best known to themselves and who should be made accountable for their actions. \
(viii) The Attorney General, Kiryowa Kiwanuka, who is the principal legal advisor of government under our Constitution and is also an ex-officio member of the Judicial Service Commission, indefensibly failed in his duties to properly advise you about both decisions concerning my early retirement and the appointment of the tribunal of Inquiry.
In the same way, he also failed to properly advise the commission not to conduct an unconstitutional discreet inquiry, and not to submit an unconstitutional report and recommendation to you.
(ix) If the attorney general can fail you and the people of Uganda to give proper advice on such obvious matters, he cannot and should not be trusted to remain in that role, as his incompetence is endangering our country by the day. His tenure in office should, in public interest, be immediately ended.
REQUESTS
Considering the reasons given in this letter, your recent public apology to the Baganda people, of whom I am a member and your recent pledge to prioritize fighting corruption in government if elected for another term, I request you to:
(i) Reconsider your decision and accept my early retirement from the Supreme court, as provided for under our Constitution.
(ii) Reconsider your decision and revoke/rescind the unconstitutional legal notice No. 4 of 2025.
(iii) Consider revoking the appointment of Kiryowa Kiwanuka as the Attorney General.
(iv) Commission a forensic audit of the academic certificates of all the lawyers that gave you advice that you have powers under Article 144(1) to refuse a judge who has attained 60 years from taking early retirement.
(v) Appoint a new justice of the Supreme court in my place to enable the court to function more efficiently and effectively.
The author is a retired Justice of the Supreme Court of Uganda.
That’s her decision let the president consider her request
That’s how a failed state operates.
I respect Justice Kisakye and I believe she is talking the truth to the President. I only disagree with her on making her letter public. This may make it so difficult for her to achieve her goal.
The President may feel insulted the way she has communicated. May be she would have consulted other powers that matter to have a one on one with the President like the Mengo establishment. I know she has the capacity.
Obel, by addressing President Museveni in an open letter rather than through established formal channels, Justice Kisakye signaled a shift in strategy. This public appeal indicates a belief that internal mechanisms are unlikely to deliver justice, prompting her to appeal to a wider audience and continue to expose the rotten system.
Indeed a new Uganda is possible, this is not only a matter of a Judge fighting to push back on all the injustices meted out on her but also a display of how rotten our justice system as a nation is.
Thank you Justice Kisakye for the courage to speak out.
A person of her legal practice experience would have taken a more sensible approach. Set out to address her early retirement but ended up with a mix of tribe and attacks on individuals.
This is not only missing a point but also confusing the person of the President. An ordinary man of my standing would be prompted to believing that our learned lady has or had some serious behavioral and conduct issues with everybody basically in the judiciary. Anyhow, her opinion respected in its form and format.
But Justice Kisaakye forgot that our 85-years-old PROBLEM OF AFRICA, Gen Tibuhaburwa is a diabolic, vindictive, self-confessed wrong doer by BIRTH.
E.g., he likes writing CRITICAL long missives about other people, but he resents being written to; especially pointing out his indiscipline and/or wrong doing.
E.g., who in his/her right mind can deny that the man who in 1987, during his Maiden Speech at the Organization of African Union (OAU) now African Union(AU); without blinking, attributed Africa’s PROBLEM for African leaders refusal to relinquish power after their term of office comes to and end?
The man has himself become a FAT African PROBLEM, worse than Amin (courtesy of Prof. Mahmood Mamdani’s Book/publication SLOW POISON).
In 1986, during his Maiden Speech at the UN General Assembly/Summit, the guy embarrassed African leaders/Heads of states delegates, by castigating them for flying Private Jets to Summit yet they left behind millions of barefoot countrymen, women and children.
And yet he ended up with 2 Private Jets in his backyard, one of which was even used as a Maternity Air Ambulance, for his daughter and daughter in law to go and deliver his grandchildren in a Germany Private Hospital.
In other words, the man is BOGUS: an embarrassment not worth writing to, associating and/or listening to.
He criticizes and/or condemns other people for what he is best at, such as: shameless lying, financial indiscipline (SPENDTHRIFT), bearing false witness, malice/blackmail, diabolic violence, sectarianism sic tribalism, nepotism, familism, cronyism, corruption, spend rift etc., etc.
Her request not yet approved and so she is not yet a retired justice of court of appeal.
Indeed this is an NRM cadre judge who seems to have realized the stupidity of this long serving NRM African government and wants to resign from it all. Justice Dr Esther Kitimbo Kisaakye accepting the recent public apology from dictator Museveni to the Baganda people, of whom she is a member, is certainly unfortunate. Is this military leader apologising the transgression he has done to the Ganda people in thought, word, or action that goes against divine law, moral principles, or what is considered good and right? Has this African President been again apologising the offences against God or of spiritual or moral codes, often rooted in self-centeredness, disobedience, or turning away from human love and truth? With the 1995 constitution still technically governing the people of the Buganda Kingdom state of Buganda and the people of Uganda, the law as an ass will continue to give a headache to Judge Kisakye. There are many Ganda people who have been in bed with NRM and continue to believe that by continuing to stay put with this nasty government now many years and counting, they will make a better life! The Ganda tribes people believe that if you cannot beat them join them!
There are certainly many Ganda tribes people who having seen the mismanagement of this long serving government, and for the fear of their lives, have immigrated. They are accepting any jobs that are thrown to them (eg Jennifer Musisi etc.). Uganda employment is not the end of life for many Uganda citizens!