Kanyeihamba Ready To Face Museveni
Mar 23, 2004
“IF the President is calling me, I will meet him. If he thinks am unfit to be a judge, he has to do something,†Justice George Kanyeihamba said yesterday.
“IF the President is calling me, I will meet him. If he thinks am unfit to be a judge, he has to do something,†Justice George Kanyeihamba said yesterday.
Kanyeihamba (above) was reacting to criticism by the President that he was not fit to be a judge, reports Simon Mugenyi.
The Supreme Court judge, who was presenting a paper on “judicial independence†at the Lake View Hotel in Mbarara yesterday, said he was ready to meet Museveni and defend his statement.
On Saturday, Museveni criticised Kanyeihamba for saying peasants had no power to make important decisions for a country and said Kanyeihamba should explain the statement.
“I am prepared to stand trial, to meet the President and say, ‘This is what I meant,’†he said.
He said what he said was constitutional. He said all political offices had constitutional minimum qualifications and peasants made decisions through their elected representatives.
The workshop was organised by the Foundation for Human Rights Initiative and funded by the British Foreign Office.
He said peasants had not directly made any important decision therefore, “I was making a factual statement.â€
The judge said, “I will tell the President that even during the Roman times (before Jesus Christ), the law was not in the hands of the common man but in the hands of a class of people.â€
He said Museveni had all the information he wanted which he could use to do whatever he thought was right.
“Our President has to abide by the constitution, and I know he is a president who acts by the constitution, he cannot make a fault,†Kanyeihamba said.
He said the Government needed to act on corruption allegations in the Judiciary. He said people should be mindful of the consequences of the utterances they make. “Until this morning, many people thought of Kanyeihamba as a good judge.
These unsubstantiated allegations undermine the independence of the Judiciary,†he said. Ends
Kanyeihamba (above) was reacting to criticism by the President that he was not fit to be a judge, reports Simon Mugenyi.
The Supreme Court judge, who was presenting a paper on “judicial independence†at the Lake View Hotel in Mbarara yesterday, said he was ready to meet Museveni and defend his statement.
On Saturday, Museveni criticised Kanyeihamba for saying peasants had no power to make important decisions for a country and said Kanyeihamba should explain the statement.
“I am prepared to stand trial, to meet the President and say, ‘This is what I meant,’†he said.
He said what he said was constitutional. He said all political offices had constitutional minimum qualifications and peasants made decisions through their elected representatives.
The workshop was organised by the Foundation for Human Rights Initiative and funded by the British Foreign Office.
He said peasants had not directly made any important decision therefore, “I was making a factual statement.â€
The judge said, “I will tell the President that even during the Roman times (before Jesus Christ), the law was not in the hands of the common man but in the hands of a class of people.â€
He said Museveni had all the information he wanted which he could use to do whatever he thought was right.
“Our President has to abide by the constitution, and I know he is a president who acts by the constitution, he cannot make a fault,†Kanyeihamba said.
He said the Government needed to act on corruption allegations in the Judiciary. He said people should be mindful of the consequences of the utterances they make. “Until this morning, many people thought of Kanyeihamba as a good judge.
These unsubstantiated allegations undermine the independence of the Judiciary,†he said. Ends