Justice Ogoola has made a giant step for the nation
Oct 09, 2003
SIR— I was most impressed by the untypical Ugandan behaviour of Justice James Ogoola of the Commercial Court, as report in your headline story
SIR— I was most impressed by the untypical Ugandan behaviour of Justice James Ogoola of the Commercial Court, as report in your headline story of Wednesday’s New Vision.
By declining the “small†envelope, Justice Ogoola took “one small step for man but one giant step for mankindâ€, to paraphrase Armstrong, the first man on the moon.
He may have initiated by his action a revolution in our judicial system with far-reaching implications on the confidence building in the perception of the ordinary Ugandan and investor alike.
The action by the so-called tycoon is no surprise to any casual observer of the High Court of Uganda. He happens to have at any given moment several ongoing cases — especially with multinational companies which, by coincidence, end up losing the cases.
It is by strange coincidence that the Kenyan press of the same day, several weeks now, carried the most amazing revelations of the Ringera Report — the integrity and Anti-Corruption Committee findings that revealed some frightening figures. Five out of nine Court of Appeal judges were corrupt, 50% of all judges and 82 magistrates, a judge in western Kenya nicknamed “cash box†and a lot more.
May be it is time President Museveni appointed the inquiry he has promised to put in place. At least we now have a second clean member of the Bench in addition to Julia Ssebutinde.
Name withheld on request
By declining the “small†envelope, Justice Ogoola took “one small step for man but one giant step for mankindâ€, to paraphrase Armstrong, the first man on the moon.
He may have initiated by his action a revolution in our judicial system with far-reaching implications on the confidence building in the perception of the ordinary Ugandan and investor alike.
The action by the so-called tycoon is no surprise to any casual observer of the High Court of Uganda. He happens to have at any given moment several ongoing cases — especially with multinational companies which, by coincidence, end up losing the cases.
It is by strange coincidence that the Kenyan press of the same day, several weeks now, carried the most amazing revelations of the Ringera Report — the integrity and Anti-Corruption Committee findings that revealed some frightening figures. Five out of nine Court of Appeal judges were corrupt, 50% of all judges and 82 magistrates, a judge in western Kenya nicknamed “cash box†and a lot more.
May be it is time President Museveni appointed the inquiry he has promised to put in place. At least we now have a second clean member of the Bench in addition to Julia Ssebutinde.
Name withheld on request