Ssemakadde Dragged to Court Over Banging AG's Table

Lawyer Robert Rutaro sues Isaac Ssemakadde and Uganda Law Society over Monday's controversial expulsion of the Attorney General and Solicitor General and their representatives from the ULS Council

NATIONAL | Did the Uganda Law Society (ULS) president, Isaac Ssemakadde, bang the table too loud for his own good? Or did he bang the wrong head with the table?

The Civil Division of the High Court has been compelled to find the answers to this and more after after a member of the Law Society sued the newly-elected populist leader for kicking top government representatives out of the ULS Council.

Mr Ssemakadde, an unconventional lawyer who calls himself a "rebel", on Monday issued "Executive Order Number One" that he called a "bold and necessary step" to restore public faith in the legal profession and to protect the independence of the Uganda Law Society.

"The Attorney General and Solicitor General's ex officio positions on the ULS Council are a colonial hangover, incompatible with the Radical New Bar's autonomy," he said.

Citing the Prof Ssempebwa ULS Report (2012) that recommended the removal of the two exofficio from the ULS Council, Mr Ssemakadde said he had lodged a constitutional petition "challenging this repugnant relic".

The controversial 'executive order' issued by the ULS leader elicited immediate and strong reactions, with lawyer Ivan Okuda, one of his dedicated campaigners, calling it abuse of power reminiscent of Idi Amin’s military decrees, while Robert Rutaro took the matter straight to court.

"The executive order is unlawful, null and void, tainted with illegality, irrationality, unreasonableness, and procedural impropriety," Mr Rutaro, a member of ULS said in his affidavit.

The affidavit, drawn by MS Elgon Advocates, says Mr Ssemakadde has no authority to expel the Attorney General, Solicitor General or their representatives from ULS Council.

Mr Rutaro said the composition of the ULS Council is a creature of statute of the Uganda Law Society Act, which cannot be altered by "mere wishful thinking of Isaac Ssemakadde, but by amendment of the law that established the said Council.

The affidavit says Mr Ssemakadde's decision was driven by personal vendetta and grievances against the person of AG Kiryowa Kiwanuka. It cites recent public utterances in which Ssemakadde was seen and heard hurling obscene insults against accusing him of not supporting his candidature in the recently concluded elections.

"It now appears he wants to use his current position and office to revenge, shame, ridicule, embarrass and settle personal scores against Mr Kiryowa Kiwanuka to the detriment, anguish and embarrassment of all members of ULS  who were not consulted before issuing the impugned executive order, the subject of this application," the affidavit says.

Mr Rutaro said he feels "extremely embarrassed" by the actions of Mr Ssemakadde acting and behaving like a street mad-man, publicly shouting at and obscenely abusing not only the Attorney General, but also judges, Director of Public Prosecution and the President of the Republic.

To support the claim, he said Mr Ssemakadde is currently facing criminal charges at Buganda Road Court for being a public nuisance.

"Therefore, if not restrained urgently, no one is safe including the President of Uganda, and all national leaders who together face the risk of being shamed, ridiculed, insulted and mocked by Mr Ssemakadde," he said.

The petitioner has asked the court to quash the executive order and restrain Mr Ssemakadde from ever again attempting to or actually expelling the Attomey General, Solicitor General or their representatives from the ULS Council.