Chief Justice Owiny Dollo has tipped female judges on replacing him as the new head of the third arm of government encouraging them to work hard with integrity and dedication.
“ Soon we shall have a female Chief Justice. My sisters in the judiciary, work with dedication and distinction,” Justice Dollo, who is retiring in late 2025 said.
He was speaking as the Chief Guest at the thanksgiving ceremony organized by Wakiso district High Court Circuit Justice Sarah Langa which took place at her home village of Kabosa in Tororo district in eastern Uganda.
Justice Dollo’s statement fuelled the ongoing silent lobbying and fighting over who will replace him and highly placed sources in the corridors of power revealed to this website that the appointment of Justice Dr Flavian Zeija as the deputy chief justice changes the first calculations for the slot.
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At first, all eyes were on Supreme Court’s Justice Mike Chibita as the possible candidate to replace Dollo because of his family background and his good working relationship with the appointing authority President Museveni.
Before joining judiciary, Chibita worked in States House after he was appointed as the Director of Public Prosecution. He was then appointed as the Supreme Court justice.
Even though he ruled against his government in the landmark judgement which declared that trying civilians in the military courts is unconstitutional, Museveni has severely praise him for supporting his government.
Justice Chibita is one of the humble judicial officers who is scandal free and is deeply connected in the church and within members of the Deep State which gives him a upper hand.
However, some insiders in the Judiciary and State House opine that Justice Zeija is likely to takeover from Dollo because he was recruited in the judiciary with a mission and he has executed this mission with a lot of care.
In 2016, Justice Zeija was appointed as the Judge of the High Court. He was first deployed as a Resident High Court Judge in Mbarara, but in 2019, he was appointed as the Principal Judge replacing Justice Yolokam Bamwine who clocked the retirement age.
In 2025, he was appointed as the deputy Chief Justice replacing Justice Richard Butera who clocked retirement age and a number of Court of Appeal insiders who talked to this website during the course of investigating this story said that they are happy with the way Justice Zeija is running the Court of Appeal.
They praise him for being a team work player who does not command them but always leads by example and gives them the opportunity to have close engagements with all parties on any issue at hand through consulting them before making any decision.
The litigants also praise justice Zeija for always giving them the opportunity to represent their cases without being insulted because of not having a lawyer to represent them.
Male Mabirizi a serial litigator told this website that Justice Zeija allowed them to submit from where advocates submit their client’s case not from the dock as other judges used to ordered them.
However, since Justice Dollo is lobbying for a female Chief Justice as his replacement, his wish is on Justice Langa because he is the one who mentored her and they work together when she was still the Chief Registrar.
However, it will be hard for her to replace him because she is still a junior in the judiciary.
“He appointed justice Jane Kajuga as the Acting Principal Judge after the appointment of Dr Zeija as the Deputy Chief Justice but senior judges were not happy and many looked at the move as a plat to undermine them by appointing a junior judge to supervise them. Look at people like Justice Lawrance Gidudu, Justice Stephen Mubiru, Justice Margate Mutonyi who have been in judiciary for more years than Kajuga! Even the laws are clear, in the absence of the Principal Judge, a senior judge takes over,” a source said.
But there are other female justices who can replace Dollo including Museveni’s blue eyed girl justice Catherine Bamugemereire who missed the opportunity of replacing Justice Bart Katurebe as the Chief Justice when Dollo was appointed.
Sources said that the big problem that Bamugemereire has is she has stepped on some toes of members of the Deep State when executing special assignments given to her by the president like chairing the KCCA, Land and UNRA probes and they are in turn are fighting that she remains Justice of the Supreme Court.
Justice Monica Mugenyi is also another of Museveni’s blue-eyed girls and he even praised her for siding with his government and ruled that civilians should be tried in the military courts
“The president knows her personally; her husband is a good friend to him. He first appointed her judge of the High Court, after, he took her to the East African Court before appointing her justice of the Court of Appeal. Within a period of two years, he promoted her to the Supreme Court, so she is also one of the strong candidates to watch,” a source said.
There other senior supreme court justices like; troubled Justice Dr Easter Kitimbo Kisakye the most senior judge on the Supreme Court, Justice professor Lilian Tibatemwa, Justice Elizabeth Musoke and Justice Percy Night Tuhaise all who can replace Dollo in January 2026.
