Early this week, the newly appointed chairperson of the Uganda Judicial Service Commission Justice Dr Douglas Singiza was at Kingdom Kampala building being introduced to staff as their new boss.
At Tweed Towers building in Nakasero a Kampala suburb his former staff collected his belongs from his offices at the Civil Division of the High Court to take them to his new offices at Kampala Kingdom building and there were a lot of celebrations and tears among his former staff members.
When this website interacted with some of Dr Singiza’s former staff, they described him as a very controversial man who is quick at taking decisions, they cited a scenario where he reported his heavily pregnant research assistant to the State House Anti- Corruption Unity and she was detained over allegation of picking a bribe on his behalf.
Anne Nanteza was released on police bond after recording a statement concerning allegation that she picked Shs150m from Emmaus Foundation Investments limited after allegedly assuring them that they were going to win a multibillion suit before Justice Singiza, which they unfortunately lost.
According to State House Anti-Corruption Unit, city lawyer Carol Aparo was also arrested on allegations that she was the one who delivered the bribe to Nanteza but was also released on police bond.
Nanteza’s staff at the Civil Division are very scared that Singiza is likely to use his new position as the head of the institution which disciplines and recruits judicial officers to take further actions against her friends which can result into them being expelled from judiciary with disgrace.
However, others were crying noting that Singiza is an incorruptible judicial officer whose name has never been cited in any corruption scandal given that all the decisions he has been making from his time at the magistrate’s court are always based on evidence, facts and the law.
There are also claims that he always considers the interests of the deep state in president Museveni’s government first.
When Singiza was still at Buganda Road as Chief Magistrate, he remanded a badly tortured lawyer Kakwenza Rukirabashaija to prison on charges related to annoying the person of president Museveni and his son the Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) Gen Muhoozi Kainerugaba and he was highly criticized.
Singiza also saved Mathias Mpuuga and other parliamentary Commissioners on the Shs1.7bn bonanza which they shared amongst themselves and placed the burden on Adolf Mwesige the Clerk to Parliament who he said erred.
He declared that the beneficiaries legally received the money a decision which was condemned by the public court.
He is also accused of frustrating the efforts to save maverick city lawyer Eron Kizza from serving a nine months prison sentence by dismissing his application which was challenging his continued detention yet the Supreme Court had already declared that the Court Martial which imprisoned him on the offence of contempt of court was illegally trying civilians.
His ruling was rubbished by the members of public who accused him of being a cadre judge.
Singiza who declined to release Dr Kizza Besigye and his friend Hajji Obed Lutale after they challenged their continued detention in prison after the Supreme Court decision concerning the military Court noting that their application was overtaken by events since they were formerly charged before a civilian court.
Singiiza was again attacked by the public over his decision.
Sources at the Civil Division of the High Court told this website that Singiza has been very careful when handling case files where state and other members of the deep state have interest.
Before being appointed the Acting Judge of the High Court, Singiza was a Personal Assistant to former Principal Judge Yolokam Bamwine.
He was later assigned as a Secretary at the Commission of Inquiry into land matters which was chaired by nonsense Supreme Court justice Catherine Bamugemereire and he performed well because there was no corruption cited.
Sources who worked with Singiza at the Commission told this website that he was not an easy man because one time he reported to Justice Bamugemereire that one of her assistants was picking bribe from the public using her name, the investigations were done and the lady was dismissed from the commission.
At the Commission, Singiza was not in good books with journalists and one time they reported him to Justice Bamugemereire on allegations that he was shielding land grabbers especially government officials and members with authority by ordering them not to take their pictures. Justice Bamugemereire overruled him which sent journalists in celebratory mood.
When he was still at Buganda Road Court, sources claim that a lady approached him seeking for his help to release his son who was imprisoned by one of the controversial young business persons in Kampala.
The lady also told Singiza that there were people working at court who were asking for money from her to help her.
” There was a lot of panic here, that man Singiza pressured the lady to go to the Inspector General of Government (IGG) and file a complaint against us. He even advised him on how to do it and how to place us in traps, but because she was a parent, the lady advised us to be careful when dealing with Singiza because he is not easy,” a judiciary staff working at Buganda Road court told this website.
Sources in intelligence and security agencies confirmed to this website that Museveni is very happy that Singiza is going to help him to fight corruption in judiciary because all investigations declared him am incorruptible man.
“You know Justice Benjamin Kabiito has been very lenient to those corrupt judicial officers and has been always warning them to stop. One time he was very bitter with one of the judges who was recently promoted to the Court of Appeal, he had a lot of complaints against him but this judge’s name kept showing up in corruption scandals.
So one time he told confronted him on phone and warned him that if he doesn’t stop, he was going to surrender him to the authorities so that the long arm of the law can deal with him,” a source said.
He added that Justice Kabiito has been tough on lower judicial officers and many have been dismissed from the judiciary during his tenure, but when it came to senior officers, he has been very lenient especially to judges and justices of the court even though he has been receiving overwhelming complaints with touching evidence against some of them.
He has always saved them.
The source says that he is very sure that Singiza is going to clean the judiciary.
