Ex-deputy IGG loses petition over judges’ recruitment

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The Constitutional Court has dismissed a petition filed by the former Deputy Inspector General of Government (IGG) Raphael Baku Obudra against the Judicial Service Commission over the process of interviewing candidates for the position of High Court Judge.

Baku was appointed deputy IGG in 2005, and his contract renewed in 2009 He left office in February 2013 after his second term expired. He briefly acted as IGG at a time when office of the IGG was not fully constituted.

In his petition, Baku argued that he was never invited by the Judicial Service Commission for the interview despite having the necessary qualifications. He contended that the Commission should have shortlisted him for the High Court Judge interviews since he met all the requirements.

According to his petition, Baku further contends that in 2017 the Judicial Service Commission invited applications for both the High Court and the Court of Appeal, and as a qualified candidate, he applied.

He states that he was nominated by the then IGG and the President of the Uganda Law Society, but he never received any invitation for an interview.

He later obtained information from the then chairperson of the Judicial Service Commission, who allegedly told him that he had originally been shortlisted, but his name was later removed. He sought compensation from the court saying his constitutional rights were violated.

However, court presided over by Justices Eva Luswata, Oscar Kihika, Margaret Tibulya, Moses Kazibwe and Asa Mugenyi on December 4, 2025, dismissed the petition, stating that it lacked merit. The court noted that the Judicial Service Commission acted within its powers in deciding who should be invited for the interview.

“I, therefore, agreed with my learned sister when she opines that there was no basis for the assertion that the failure by the Judicial Commission to shortlist and invite the petition for interviews was without reason. I find the failure to shortlist and invite the petitioner for the interviews did not contravene Article 147(1) (a) of the constitution. I would dismiss the petition with no order of costs,” Kihika said.