Justice John Mike Musisi of the Court of Appeal which also doubles as the Constitutional Court has rushed to his immediate boss the Deputy Chief Justice Dr Flavian Zeija for guidance on the way forward over an appeal filed by Uganda Law Society against city lawyer Pheona Wall Nabaasa.
Uganda Law Society through their lawyers led by Judge Byamukama petitioned the Court of Appeal challenging the decision of then High Court Judge Musa Ssekaana staying the process of halting practicing lawyers from voting their representatives at the Judicial Service Commission citing illegalities.
Justice Ssekaana halted the process based on the petition filed by former Law Society president Nabaasa claiming that she was illegally rejected by the Uganda Law Society elections committee from contesting and being voted among the two people to represent lawyers at the Judicial Service Commission.
Nabaasa maintained that she has all the qualifications to contest on the said positions which the Uganda Law Society elections committee contested insisting that Nabaasa did not prove her case by tabling fifteen consecutive practicing licenses issued by the Law Council of Uganda which were needed for her to be allowed to contest.
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Nabaasa however maintained that not having the needed practicing licenses is not the issue because she has been in practice for more than fifteen years but the problem was for some of the years, she was not in private practice because she was a lawyer working with Uganda National Water and Sewerage corporation and thus didn’t seek practice licenses from the Law Council of Uganda.
As Justice Musisi tried to solve the appeal amicably through mediation to avoid lawyers clashing with each other, creating divisionism among themselves and delaying work at the Judicial Service Commission, Nabaasa petitioned Dr Zeija accusing him (Justice Musisi) of mishandling the appeal against her.
Justice Musisi confirmed to have received a communication from his boss over the matter and before making any decision, he said that he has to first consult him for guidance on the way forward because the Uganda Law Society elections committee are still insisting on their earlier position.
The Uganda Law Society elections committee insists that only candidates who meet the eligibility requirements under the Constitution of Uganda may be presented for election. They allege that they rejected Nabaasa and others noting and only nominated candidates will be allowed to contests.
