Tensions continue to build in Uganda, where the government and the army are still ignoring the supreme court judgment of more than two weeks ago. This landmark decision nullifies trials of civilians in military courts, ordering that all civilians still on trial before courts martial be immediately transferred to the ordinary courts. The most high-profile civilian who would be affected by the judgment, prominent opposition figure Kizza Besigye, appeared in court at the end of last week, looking very ill. Amid reports of his declining health and that he is on a hunger strike, the Uganda Medical Association has urged his release so he can receive proper medical care. And, in another development highlighting the tense situation in the country, a controversial judge has ordered the arrest of the Uganda Law Society president, Isaac Ssemakadde, saying he must serve two years in prison for contempt of court.
It was quite some Valentine’s Day for the law in Uganda; whether it should be seen as a massacre will depend on your view of the parties.
Two main events there have triggered a cascade of responses, with more follow-up planned for the coming weeks.
The first concerns prominent Ugandan opposition leader, Kizza Besigye. Abducted from Kenya and then imprisoned by the Ugandan military, he has been facing a court martial. Last month, however, Uganda’s highest court held that it was unconstitutional for civilians to be tried in military courts. The court further ordered that all such trials stop immediately, with the accused transferred to the ordinary courts.
However, defiant statements criticising those court orders were issued by President Yoweri Museveni and his son, General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, who holds the powerful position of Uganda’s defence force chief. Their statements were to the effect that Besigye would ‘never’ be freed and that he would continue to be tried by the military. In addition, Muhoozi used social media to post the date on which he said Besigye would be hanged.
Besigye still in prison, though obviously very sick
Well over two weeks since the judgment, Besigye, formerly a close colleague of Museveni and his personal medical doctor, has still not been released, despite the attorney general’s assurances to parliament that the matter was being dealt with.
On Friday, 14 February, he was brought from prison to face charges in a civilian court on another, unrelated, matter, linked to protests some years ago about the cost of living. He was given bail at an earlier hearing of this matter, and so under normal circumstances he would have come from home to appear in court for this case. However, he is still imprisoned in connection with the court martial. Video footage of him arriving under guard at the court on Friday and his demeanour during the brief hearing seem to show someone who may be very ill. Perhaps this is not surprising, since rumours have been circulating that he has begun a hunger strike in protest at the refusal to release him in the wake of the supreme court’s decision.
Compared with the vigorous picture of health Besigye presented in earlier court martial sessions, he seemed markedly weak, bewildered by what was happening, unable to swallow and completely unengaged. While the authorities have denied that his health is affected, his appearance told a different story. A Ugandan prison official is quoted in local media as ‘acknowledging Besigye’s poor health’, but the official added that his medical condition was ‘being managed by their medical team’ and that ‘there is no cause for alarm.’ Over the weekend, however, his family said they received a message that they should arrange for Besigye’s personal doctor to come and see him.
On Sunday the Uganda Medical Association issued a strong statement about how ill he looked in court. The association urged that he be released so that he can be properly treated.
Habeus corpus applications
Because the supreme court left it to the parties to take further steps to secure their release, it will be a busy week for the legal teams acting for Besigye, his co-accused, Obeid Lutale and the lawyer appearing for Besigye in the court martial, Eron Kizza, since imprisoned for contempt of the military court. They are understood to be bringing habeas corpus applications in relation to all three prisoners.
Public concern and anger are growing over the welfare of Besigye and other civilians still held for military trial despite the highest court’s judgment. Several organisations said they were planning countrywide protests in response.
Meanwhile, however, Kainerugaba, Museveni’s favoured son and military general, has been repeating his threats to the judiciary and to Besigye. Over the weekend he posted on social media, referring to the supreme court’s decision on civilians and court martials: ‘I want a written apology from the supreme court for the judgment they made against (the army) and Uganda. If I don’t get that apology quickly other things will follow….’ In another post he added, ‘People in red gowns and funny wigs can never scare us!!’
Judge finds leading lawyer in contempt
The second major Valentine’s Day event in Uganda’s legal world was a judgment that immediately caused a great deal of controversy. It was the latest round in a long-running dispute between a judge, Musa Ssekaana, recently elevated from the high court to the court of appeal, and the president of the Uganda Law Society, Isaac Ssemakadde. On Friday, the judge found the fiery ULS chief in contempt of court and ordered that he be arrested and imprisoned for two years.
Ssemakadde’s ruling came in response to an application by a fellow lawyer, Mugisha Hashim Mugisha. He claimed that the ULS president made derogatory remarks about Judge Ssekaana, and that he should be found in contempt.
Mugisha wanted the court to direct that Ssemakadde stop all such publications, that he be arrested and jailed for contempt and that he be made to pay a considerable fine.
The ULS leader, who took over as president with the support of an overwhelming majority of the country’s lawyers, has made it a feature of his term of office to highlight judges claimed to be misconducting themselves in various ways. At the top of Ssemakadde’s list is Judge Ssekaana. Ssemakadde’s criticism has included rudeness towards the judge like referring to him as ‘small penis Ssekaana’.
Make a mockery of the courts and punishment will follow – judge
In his ruling, Judge Ssekaana wrote, ‘The protection of courts from attacks of this kind where cases are pending is a vital matter, and it is in the public interest in such cases that the court should intervene and deal severely with the offender.’
He said that the power to punish for contempt wasn’t meant to give protection to individual judges, but rather ‘to inspire confidence in the sanctity and efficacy of the judiciary.’
A ‘powerful judicial system’ was needed for ‘a healthy democracy’, he added, and no one could be allowed to ‘terrorise or intimidate’ judges and magistrates.
Finding Ssemakadde in contempt, he went on: ‘The court should consider that the objective of contempt of court proceedings is to protect the public interest or confidence in the due administration of justice. This is done by punishing acts or statements which tend to abuse or make a mockery of (the) administration of justice, or which tend to lower the authority of individual judicial officers.
‘The repeated nature of the attacks by a person knowledgeable in legal matters and duly elected as president of the Uganda Law Society invites this court to send a strong warning and caution against future contemnor ‘foot soldiers’ … to desist from such conduct in future.
‘(Ssemakkadde) should be arrested and imprisoned for a period of two years.’
ULS president still free man
Following the judge’s ruling and the sentence he imposed, the vice president of the ULS said the ruling was ‘one sided’ and part of a broader strategy to silence voices advocating for judicial accountability.
By Sunday night, however, Ssemakkadde was still a free man, in Kigali, Rwanda, preparing for the start of the next session of the East African Court of Justice. In the meantime, the judgment has not silenced him and he has continued posting on his X account, with comments on the current human rights and legal situation in Uganda.
(written on 15 February 2025)