The High Court in Kampala has halted the hearing of the criminal case in which two lawyers accuse Uganda Law Society President Isaac Ssemakadde of insulting the modesty of a woman.
Hearing of this case has been halted pending determination of the application in which Ssemakadde wants the charges against him to be set aside.
The trial has been halted by the Criminal Division Judge Paul Gadenya, who noted that the balance of convenience leans towards Ssemakadde for several reasons, despite the valid concerns raised by the private prosecutors Joshua Byamazima and Tonny Tumukunde.
The Judge has also indicated that there is a need to preserve the status quo for Ssemakadde not to suffer irreparable damages and malicious prosecution when his case challenging the proceedings in the lower Court is not yet determined by the High Court.
“The applicant emphasises maintaining the status quo until the revision application is resolved. This argument underscores the need to prevent the potential violation of the applicant’s right to liberty that could arise from continuing the lower court’s prosecution”, said Gadenya.
Gadenya noted that while the lawyers Joshua Byamazima and Tumukunde raised important points about the potential hindrance to their legal rights and the judicial process, these concerns are primarily about the implications of delays and the judicial system’s efficiency.
However, the more pressing issue is the protection of individual rights, especially when those rights may be jeopardised.
“The respondents’ claims of harm do not carry the same immediacy or risk of damage compared to the applicant’s concerns”, said Gadenya.
In the interest of Justice, he found it justifiable to grant a stay to safeguard Ssemakadde’s right to liberty while the revision is underway.
This, he said, would ensure a fair process for both parties without the threat of serious consequences.
Gadenya has now ordered the parties to file written submissions in the main case not later than May 7th 2025, and that judgement will then be delivered on notice.
The case that has been halted has been before the Buganda Road Chief Magistrate, Ronald Kayizzi, who issued a warrant of arrest against Ssemakadde.
However, by the time Kayizzi issued a warrant of arrest, Ssemakadde had already run to the High Court to challenge the criminal summons issued against him. It’s the criminal summons that later resulted in the warrant of arrest.
On November 22nd 2024, Byamazima and Tumukunde filed a complaint on oath and an affidavit in support thereof seeking summons against Ssemakadde to appear and plead to the proposed charge of insulting the modesty of a woman contrary to section 115(3) of the Penal Code Act.
The two Private Prosecutors allege that on November 18th 2024, while addressing the members of the People’s Freedom Front (PFF) party at a “symposium on the state of the Rule of Law, Constitutionalism and Human Rights: The Kisumu 36 Tales” held at Katonga Road in Kampala Central, Kampala District; Ssemakadde uttered obscene and indecent words agaings the DPP Lady Justice Jane Frances Abodo.
“All these things like your particular Kerfuffle is then given legal dressing by this vagina from Karamoja”, reads the words in contention reportedly said by Ssemakadde.
That Ssemakadde added, ” I have made a case before that we have a pumpkin for a DPP, but some lawyers continue to pretend that she is the DPP… she is dead wood.”
They submitted to the court a flash disk containing the video of the alleged utterances.
Ssemakadde was summoned twice, but he defied the summons and opted to challenge the proceedings in the High Court, which has delayed handling his case.
Accordingly, Tumukunde and Byamazima asked for a warrant of arrest against him, which was granted.
This was the second warrant of arrest to be issued against Ssemakadde by the courts of law in less than two weeks.
The first one was issued by the then Civil Division Judge Musa Ssekaana, now Constitutional Court/Court of Appeal Judge, on February 14th 2025, after finding Ssemakadde in contempt of Court.
Ssemakadde was convicted following his statements on social media X handle formerly Twitter in which he criticized the Judge following his decision (Ssekaana ‘s ) to block the Extraordinary Annual General Meeting for Uganda Law Society-ULS in which they were to elect new representatives to the Judicial Service Commission.
Ssekaana, who had personal issues with Ssemakadde dating way back in 2022 when the lawyer had abused him in a language crafted in vulgarity, seized the opportunity arising from lawyer Mugisha Hashim Mugisha to hand a jail term of two years to Ssemakadde.
Ssekaana has since been criticized by the majority of the population for being a judge, a complainant in a case against him, well knowing that he had other cases previously against Ssemakadde.
Ssemakadde is still at large.
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