Representing Uganda abroad: Meet the designer of Uganda’s Bar course

Jun 27, 2010

WHERE there is a new government, a reform in the justice sector is needed. And that is where Francis Ssekandi and his ilk come in. Ssekandi is an international legal consultant with over thirty five years experience, providing legal assistance mostly for the United Nations and Governments.

By Shamilla Kara

WHERE there is a new government, a reform in the justice sector is needed. And that is where Francis Ssekandi and his ilk come in. Ssekandi is an international legal consultant with over thirty five years experience, providing legal assistance mostly for the United Nations and Governments.

On a regular basis, Ssekandi is a judge on the World Bank administrative tribunal, which convenes to decide cases between staff and the management of the World Bank. Ssekandi is also an adjunct Law professor at Columbia University, where he has been teaching African law and development in the fall since 2001.

Most recently, Ssekandi was appointed on the panel of arbitrators for the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes. The centre operates under the aegis of the World Bank and resolves investment disputes between member countries and individual investors. A backyard example is the oil exploration and exploitation dispute taking place on Lake Albert, in the Semliki River valley.

How did you end up in southern Lebanon, dodging landmines?
I was a member of a panel of experts appointed by the Secretary General of the United Nations to investigate how the war had affected UN installation in Lebanon.

When we travelled to Lebanon, the war had just ended and land mines were feared all over the area in Southern Lebanon.

Tell us about your role in reforming the justice sector in Rwanda
“I spent over seven months in Rwanda in 2000 and 2001, touring all courts and prosecutor’s offices in the country to evaluate the effectiveness of the court system.”

Rwanda had inherited the French system, Ssekandi says, with a top-heavy supreme court and virtually autonomous courts of appeal in each province.

“The system was wasteful in resources and manpower. We made certain recommendations to revise the court system, so as to institute an independent judiciary under the control of the Supreme Court.”

Many of the issues discussed in Ssekandi’s report were taken up and appropriate decisions made to institute reforms found appropriate for Rwanda. “I returned to Rwanda in 2008 to launch newly enacted legislation intended to modernise commercial law and to introduce its newly appointed judges for the just-introduced commercial courts,” he says.

Is this where you want to be?
“I could never have planned it, but I am happy to have achieved so much,” says the man of many coats.

“I have been fortunate to have had the opportunity to serve my country and the international community in positions of responsibility. It is beyond my wildest dreams,” he adds.

“Positions I applied for I never really got,” he adds. “When I left school, I wanted to work with Mr. Wilkinson QC but we were all required to join Government on graduation.”

Ssekandi has competed for elective positions at the UN, such as the ICJ and the Rwanda Tribunal but, “did not garner sufficient support in the general assembly. “I do not regret this because my candidature opened avenues for many of my compatriots, who have since competed and got elected, among which is my friend Judge Daniel Nsereko at the ICC and Judge Julia Sebutinde at the Sierra Leone Tribunal,” Ssekandi says. A star debater in his school days, Ssekandi enjoys toying with ideas and succeeding in conveying knowledge to others.

“But most of all, in arguing and making convincing arguments particularly if, in so doing, I contribute to achieving lasting solutions,” he says.

What drives you?
“I really do not know. I have to remain active to be alive. I cannot imagine being idle,” Ssekandi, who enjoys tending to tomatoes in his garden, cutting his lawnand playing tennis, says.

Ssekandi hopes that his extensive experience can be put to good use back home. “I hope Uganda uses my experience dealing with the oil companies,” he says.

On the Law Development Centre (LDC)
Ssekandi designed the Post graduate Bar Course which became mandatory for admission to the Uganda Bar.

“I also set up the LDC Publishers as an arm of the centre for printing and distributing legal materials, including the Uganda Law Reports, the Law Focus and the Uganda High Court bulletin,” he says.

Another of Ssekandi’s prized achievements is that he set up a modern Law Library which serves both members of the Bar and law students at Makerere University. He expanded the area occupied by the centre by acquiring adjacent land for expansion but lacked funds to complete it.

Education
Ssekandi, who studied at the University College of Dar-es-Salaam, graduated with an LL.B degree awarded by the University of London in 1962. His university had not yet started to offer its own degrees. He then studied at Columbia University School of Law in New York for his LL.M.

His advice to young lawyers
“The sky is the limit if one is dedicated, honest and true to the law.” He adds: “I would like young Ugandans to aim high. There is a whole world beyond Uganda’s borders that beckons for those who truly wish to excel.”

If wishes were horses….
“It would be nice to see Uganda in the World Cup!”
skara@newvision.co.ug

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