Lawyer Ivan Okuda has taken a swipe at Uganda Law Society president, Isaac Ssekamadde for expelling the Attorney General Kiryowa Kiwanuka from the law society council.
In an executive order issued on October, 14, Ssemakadde said in a bid to change things, they had decided to expel the Attorney General and Solicitor General.
“The Attorney General (AG) and Solicitor General’s ex officio positions on the ULS Council are a colonial hangover, incompatible with the radical new bar’s autonomy,” Ssemakadde said.
Ssemakadde explained in the executive order that the Attorney General was specifically targeted with the expulsion over his alleged misconduct, accusing him of curiously condoning “torture, subversion of bail and the trial of civilians in military tribunals contrary to the Government of the Republic of Uganda’s commitments under International Human Rights Law.”
However, in a comment about the expulsion, lawyer Okuda who campaign for Ssemakadde during the just concluded Uganda Law Society polls said what he did can only be equated to abuse of power, reminiscent of Idi Amin’s military decrees.
“Luckily for Amin, he was a military ruler. Unfortunately for you, your “struggle” is defined within the law through which you were elected. You can’t prosecute your “struggle” outside the law,” Okuda said.
However, Okuda defended his statement as a healthy disagreement .
“Difference of opinion on anything is healthy in democracy. We don’t have to agree on everything with our leaders.”
Throughout his campaigns, Ssemakadde, christened the “legal rebel” based his campaigns on the need to bring the much-needed radical reforms, particularly in strengthening the rule of law in Uganda.
