Court halts appointment of Substantive Insurance Regulatory Authority boss
In a ruling delivered on June 29, 2026, Justice Joyce Kavuma held that the applicant had established sufficient grounds for the grant of interim relief to preserve his right to a fair process while the court determines his substantive application.
Insurance Regulatory Authority of Uganda (IRAU) outgoing chief executive, Ibrahim Kaddunabbi Lubega. (File photo)
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The High Court has issued an interim injunction stopping the process of substantively filling the position of Chief Executive Officer of the Insurance Regulatory Authority of Uganda (IRAU) pending the determination of a legal challenge filed by the Authority’s outgoing chief executive, Ibrahim Kaddunabbi Lubega.
In a ruling delivered on June 29, 2026, Justice Joyce Kavuma held that the applicant had established sufficient grounds for the grant of interim relief to preserve his right to a fair process while the court determines his substantive application.
Lubega dragged the IRAU and its former board chairperson, Dr. Isaac Nkote Nabeta, to court after the board resolved on February 16, 2026, not to recommend him to the Minister of Finance for reappointment as the Authority’s Chief Executive Officer for a second five-year term.
He also challenged subsequent steps taken to implement the decision, including moves to replace him after the expiry of his contract on May 31, 2026.
The respondents opposed the application, arguing that Lubega’s employment contract had already expired by effluxion of time and that the application had been overtaken by events following the appointment of an acting Chief Executive Officer with effect from June 1, 2026.
They contended that there was no existing contract for court to preserve and maintained that eligibility for re-appointment did not create an automatic right to renewal.
Justice Kavuma rejected the argument that the application had been overtaken by events, holding that the process of filling the office of Chief Executive Officer had not been completed because the Minister of Finance had not yet acted on the board’s recommendation.
“The process undertaken by the first respondent is not yet complete. The events that happened on June 1, 2026, are the first steps in a continuous process, which has not ended. Therefore, it cannot be correct to state that this application has been overtaken by events,” the judge ruled.
Justice Kavuma further found that although an acting Chief Executive Officer had already assumed office, the substantive recruitment process remained ongoing and there was a real risk that Lubega’s challenge would be rendered nugatory if the process was allowed to continue before the court determined the main application.
The judge held that the balance of convenience favoured preserving the applicant’s right to a fair and just process, noting that failure to grant interim protection could occasion irreparable harm.
Court consequently issued an interim injunction halting the process of substantively filling the position of Chief Executive Officer of IRAU until the hearing and determination of the substantive application.
Justice Kavuma directed that the substantive application and the main judicial review application will be heard on June 30, 2026, at 2:00pm.