Lawyers under their professional body; the Uganda Law Society (ULS) have hatched a plan to issue judge Emmanuel Baguma with the Certificate of Incompetence, citing what has been described as his violation of professional legal procedures and basic law requirements during his judicial service, Blazer News Times can exclusively report.
Judge Baguma (High Court judge), who is currently presiding over the ongoing trial of an opposition political figure Dr. Kiiza Besigye, his colleague Obeid Lutale and others, on counts related to treason against the Uganda state, is also a member of the Uganda Law Society.
Two senior Uganda Law Society members whose names will not be mentioned because they are not authorized to speak, informed Blazer News Times, that, the Certificate will be served to the judge as soon as the ongoing internal arrangements are complete.
“They will serve it to him directly, via News Papers and official notice boards”, senior Law Society members explained.
Precursor of the planned Certificate Issuance according to the lawyers, is the violation of all procedural matters in the Uganda Vs Dr. Besigye, Obeid Lutale & others Court proceedings, which adversely impacts the law as a profession, but also as a trade.
The recent scenes of now the hospitalized Besigye Vs judge Baguma played out on Wednesday July 29, when Besigye who was in the dock with his other co accused, un precedentially loudly protested the judge’s decision that gave lee way to the main witness to testify against him, without considering what Besigye called due process of the law.
Besigye had put up a spirited verbal war against his trial judge whom he labelled biased while vowing never to allow him be tried before his Court, ended up collapsing in the dock, culminating into his immediate admission to Mulago national referral hospital.
If judge Baguma is issued with the said Certificate of Incompetence, he will have joined a list of senior legal practitioners; former Attorney General Peter Nyombi and Kiddu Makubuya who were accused of championing legal and human rights violations, thus earning themselves suspension from the lawyer’s association and Certificate of Incompetence respectively.
The dual’s suspension occurred during the reign of the Uganda Law Society presidents Oscar Kihika SC (now Court of Appeal judge) in March 2007, and SC Ruth Ssebatindira in August 2013.
Some legal scholars argued that should the Uganda Law Society plan succeeds against judge Baguma it will leave bruises and ruins on legacy of his legal career.
Judge Baguma Shunned by Fellow Judges.
Sources familiar with matters within the judiciary narrated to this news Website how judge Baguma is internally facing isolation from his fellow judges, arising from the matters that have dragged his name and caliber under the spotlight and public scrutiny.
“He is being shunned at the judicial officer’s ceremonies” One of the sources revealed.
Judiciary Defends Onerous Judge Baguma.
When reached out by this news Website to respond to the matter that involves judge Baguma who has been labelled as onerous by the lawyers and the judicial institution, the judiciary’s spokesperson HW Eremye Mawanda, explained that the Uganda Law Society has no competence to determine what the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) already determined.
“For one to be a judge you go through a rigorous process where competence is a key, therefore the Uganda Law Society purporting to usurp the authority of the constitutional body is strangely misleading,” Mawanda said.
On claims of isolation against Baguma by his fellow judicial officers, Mawanda stated that among judicial officers, judges and justices, a strong bond of collegiality is one of their values and virtues, saying there was no such isolation.
