By Vicky Wandawa
Tributes have been paid for the fallen acting deputy Chief Justice Constance Byamugisha.
Speaking at a funeral service at All Saints Cathedral in Kampala on Friday, Chief Justice Benjamin Odoki described the late as incorruptible.
Odoki said the fallen judge joined the judiciary young because of her brilliance, balanced judgment, fairness and integrity, among other virtues.
He said that due to her commitment, though retired, she accepted to take on the leadership role at the Court of Appeal, despite her health problems.
Byamugisha was acting deputy Chief Justice at the time of her death on Thursday.
The president of the Uganda Law Society, James Sebugenyi praised her for her integrity and made it clear that she was incorruptible.
“She was tough, decisive but most important of all to us lawyers, her incorruptibility,” he said.
Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi praised Byamugisha, a sister to the late First Deputy Prime Minister Eriya Kategaya, for having been a significant participant in the struggle against former president Idi Amin.
“We were close in college because we were both political activists, but later she went into the judiciary and there she carried on her work without ever exhibiting her political beliefs,” Amama said.
Judges Amos Twinomujuni, Constance Byamugisha, Steven Kavuma and Augustine Nshiimye at the High Court in 2010. PHOTO/Eddie Ssejjoba
Her husband Dr Byamugisha thanked the President, Judiciary and Uganda Law Society for the substantial financial support the family received.
Constance Byamugisha was born on December 16, 1948 to Yosiah and Erina Mpumbya Kategaya, both deceased. She is survived by five children and 11 grandchildren.
She went to Kakoba Bishop Stuart Demonstration School for her primary, Bweranyangi Girls’ School for O’level, Gayaza High School for A’ level and graduated from Makerere University with a Bachelor of Laws.
She joined the judiciary as a Grade 1 magistrate in June 1976 at Mengo and has rose through the ranks to the Court of Appeal.
Her body will be laid to rest on Sunday in Bulambira, along the Kabale-Kisoro road, after a service at St Peter’s Cathedral in Kabale.
