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The Judiciary will tomorrow (September 21, 2023) hold the 6th memorial lecture of former chief justice Benedicto Kagimu Mugumba Kiwanuka.

Kiwanuka was abducted by gunmen from his chambers at the High Court in Kampala during President Idi Amin’s administration on September 21, 1972, and his whereabouts remain unknown to date.

According to Albert Bade, in his book, the Illusion of Liberation, the arrest of a British businessman Daniel Stewart was the root cause of Kiwanuka's abduction.

It is indicated that the British High Commissioner contacted Kiwanuka and asked him to intervene in the matter and his intervention in the matter worsened his relationship with the Executive.

According to Judiciary principal communications officer Sheila Wamboga, President Yoweri Museveni is expected to preside over the memorial lecture for the icon of the rule of law, while retired Supreme Court judge Jotham Tumwesigye will give the keynote address.

Wamboga says the lecture will be observed under the theme: Enhancing Judicial Accountability, Transparency, and the Rule of Law.

Chief Justice Alfonse Owiny-Dollo argues that the Judiciary family acknowledges the role Kiwanuka played in the promotion of the observance of the rule of law and respect for human rights for which he paid the ultimate price.

Deputy Chief Justice Richard Buteera, who is also chairperson of the organising committee, says the day is all about respect for the rule of law and Judiciary independence.

Kiwanuka is remembered for having been a selfless defender of human rights and the rule of law for which he paid the ultimate price.

Before his Judiciary assignment, Kiwanuka was an eminent politician, who was instrumental in the processes leading to Uganda’s attainment of its independence from colonialists in October 1962.

Born in 1922 in Bukomansimbi district, Kiwanuka was an advocate of the High Court, head of the Democratic Party, chief minister of Uganda’s Self Government (1961-62), and Uganda’s first Prime Minister.

In December 1969, he was one of the political prisoners taken to Luzira Prison by the Milton Obote government.

He was in January 1971 released by Idi Amin following a coup and subsequently named Chief Justice by President Amin in March 1971.