Justice Oder is dead
Jun 26, 2006
JUSTICE Arthur Oder of the Supreme Court died in his sleep on Sunday night at home in Bugolobi, a Kampala suburb, after watching a gruelling World Cup match between Portugal and Holland.
By Hillary Nsambu & Stephen Muwambi
JUSTICE Arthur Oder of the Supreme Court died in his sleep on Sunday night at home in Bugolobi, a Kampala suburb, after watching a gruelling World Cup match between Portugal and Holland.
His wife Alice Oder said he died at about 4:00am, just a year to his retirement after a 20-year service as judge and 40 years as a lawyer.
“He passed away in his sleep. He did not complain of anything before retiring to bed. He was very happy and joked with his children. It was a shock to us when we found him dead,†the widow said.
Yesterday, the body was still at the Mulago Hospital mortuary. It will leave for Aboke in Apac district on June 30 for burial after a funeral service at All Saints Cathedral, Nakasero, on June 29.
Oder was on the coram of judges who handled the presidential election petition in 2001 and this year’s.
In 2001, Oder ruled in favour of Col. Dr. Kizza Besigye and wanted the election results cancelled. He had not delivered his full judgment in the 2006 petition. Oder is the father of Rasta Rob, one of the first FM radio DJs in Kampala.
The Chief Registrar of the Courts of Judicature, Lawrence Gidudu, described Oder as “a hard working person, well-tempered and quite approachable. He had a lot of legal knowledge and experience. He was a source of wisdom to his colleagues.â€
Gidudu said Oder chaired the eight-year-old first commission of inquiry into human rights abuses when the NRM had just taken power in the mid-1980s.
“Because the judge was working long hours and given his advanced age, it could be the cause of his death,†Gidudu said.
Oder had been in and out of hospital for diabetes and hypertension.
Gidudu said the judge was due to take his mandatory retirement next year when he would have clocked 70.
The Uganda Law Society President, Deo Nkunzingoma, said the legal fraternity had been deprived of a man of great wisdom.
“We feel extremely sad to lose such a senior and wellfounded judge. He has been very senior, very brilliant, very simple but firm,†he lamented.
Nkunzingoma attributed the setting up of the Uganda Human Rights Commission and the insertion of the Bill of Rights in the Constitution to Oder’s recommendations in his commission’s report on human rights abuses. “He has done his country and his family proud and deserves a peaceful rest,†the lawyer said.
Joseph Balikuddembe, a senior advocate and DP official, said the legal profession would miss Oder’s full judgement in the Besigye against Museveni electoral petition. “He was a very honest judge,†he said.
At the Supreme Court where Oder was based, work was paralysed as his colleagues were in shock. It was the same case at the Court of Appeal, which doubles as the Constitutional Court, where the judges deferred the hearing of a number of appeals, to mourn him.
At the High Court, sessions were held as the administration discussed the way forward. Most lawyers were not aware of the death, which they described as disturbing.
A sombre mood engulfed the judge’s Bugolobi home as his fellow judges, lawyers, relatives and friends flocked his two-storey house.
The mourners included deputy Chief Justice Laetitia Kikonyogo, former principal judge Herbert Ntabgoba, Supreme Court Justices G.W. Kanyeihamba and Bart Katureebe. Justices Amos Twinomujuni, S.G. Engwau, Alice Mpagi-Bahigeine, C. Kitumba and Stephen Kavuma attended.
Oder is survived by a wife and 12 children. Born in 1938, Oder graduated at the University College of Wales with a law degree in 1965.
JUSTICE Arthur Oder of the Supreme Court died in his sleep on Sunday night at home in Bugolobi, a Kampala suburb, after watching a gruelling World Cup match between Portugal and Holland.
His wife Alice Oder said he died at about 4:00am, just a year to his retirement after a 20-year service as judge and 40 years as a lawyer.
“He passed away in his sleep. He did not complain of anything before retiring to bed. He was very happy and joked with his children. It was a shock to us when we found him dead,†the widow said.
Yesterday, the body was still at the Mulago Hospital mortuary. It will leave for Aboke in Apac district on June 30 for burial after a funeral service at All Saints Cathedral, Nakasero, on June 29.
Oder was on the coram of judges who handled the presidential election petition in 2001 and this year’s.
In 2001, Oder ruled in favour of Col. Dr. Kizza Besigye and wanted the election results cancelled. He had not delivered his full judgment in the 2006 petition. Oder is the father of Rasta Rob, one of the first FM radio DJs in Kampala.
The Chief Registrar of the Courts of Judicature, Lawrence Gidudu, described Oder as “a hard working person, well-tempered and quite approachable. He had a lot of legal knowledge and experience. He was a source of wisdom to his colleagues.â€
Gidudu said Oder chaired the eight-year-old first commission of inquiry into human rights abuses when the NRM had just taken power in the mid-1980s.
“Because the judge was working long hours and given his advanced age, it could be the cause of his death,†Gidudu said.
Oder had been in and out of hospital for diabetes and hypertension.
Gidudu said the judge was due to take his mandatory retirement next year when he would have clocked 70.
The Uganda Law Society President, Deo Nkunzingoma, said the legal fraternity had been deprived of a man of great wisdom.
“We feel extremely sad to lose such a senior and wellfounded judge. He has been very senior, very brilliant, very simple but firm,†he lamented.
Nkunzingoma attributed the setting up of the Uganda Human Rights Commission and the insertion of the Bill of Rights in the Constitution to Oder’s recommendations in his commission’s report on human rights abuses. “He has done his country and his family proud and deserves a peaceful rest,†the lawyer said.
Joseph Balikuddembe, a senior advocate and DP official, said the legal profession would miss Oder’s full judgement in the Besigye against Museveni electoral petition. “He was a very honest judge,†he said.
At the Supreme Court where Oder was based, work was paralysed as his colleagues were in shock. It was the same case at the Court of Appeal, which doubles as the Constitutional Court, where the judges deferred the hearing of a number of appeals, to mourn him.
At the High Court, sessions were held as the administration discussed the way forward. Most lawyers were not aware of the death, which they described as disturbing.
A sombre mood engulfed the judge’s Bugolobi home as his fellow judges, lawyers, relatives and friends flocked his two-storey house.
The mourners included deputy Chief Justice Laetitia Kikonyogo, former principal judge Herbert Ntabgoba, Supreme Court Justices G.W. Kanyeihamba and Bart Katureebe. Justices Amos Twinomujuni, S.G. Engwau, Alice Mpagi-Bahigeine, C. Kitumba and Stephen Kavuma attended.
Oder is survived by a wife and 12 children. Born in 1938, Oder graduated at the University College of Wales with a law degree in 1965.