Who kills a widow in the presence of her children?

Mike Chibita, the Director of Public Prosecutions, eulogises Joan Namazzi Kagezi; giving insight into who she was and how she handled her assignments meticulously

Two days after Joan Kagezi’s death, a woman, whose case she had handled, walked into my office.

She told me that she would have wanted Joan Kagezi to handle her appeal. Now that Kagezi was dead could I find her an equally competent prosecutor?

This is the greatest tribute anyone can pay to Joan Kagezi. A stranger whose case she prosecuted was so satisfied by the way that she had handled the case that she wanted the same Kagezi to handle the appeal. (It is a case of murder and the woman is a relative of the deceased).

Joan Kagezi was married to Henry Kagezi (RIP). Henry Kagezi, who passed away a few years ago, was the chairman of Mitchell Hall, which was my hall of residence.

This was the era of the decade of bull roasting when Mitchell Hall dominated the Makerere University sports scene.

In Mitchell, we were a close knit community so we used to refer to anybody married to one of us as “our wife.” So it was with Joan Kagezi.

Thereafter, life took us our separate ways till I came to the Directorate of Public Prosecutions over one year ago. We then renewed our acquaintances.

Being head of one of our departments, the International War Crimes Division, I interacted with Kagezi regularly. She was very knowledgeable in her area of expertise. It is no surprise, therefore, that she had to travel somewhere across the globe almost every month.

She was a regular speaker at international conferences and workshops on issues of war crimes, trafficking in persons and gender and domestic violence.

It comes as no surprise that messages of shock at her death have poured in from all corners of the world. From the International Criminal Court, The International Association of Prosecutors, the International Tribunal on Rwanda, South Africa, Pepperdine Law School, Regent Law School, USA, Kenya and Rwanda, to mention but a few.

Kagezi was very calm and composed.

You would never know that she dealt with some of the worst criminals the justice system can handle. She, therefore, was able to take her job in stride and did not see it as a vendetta or vengeance.

It is, therefore, shocking that anyone can kill Kagezi, a woman, a widow, in the presence of her children for doing her job? Who does that?

It is common knowledge that there are a number of cases pending before the International Crimes Division.

Kagezi was the lead prosecutor in all of them. In addition, she had cases of trafficking in persons and other cases of abduction.

These cases involve voluminous fi les and, therefore, a lot of reading and research. If Kagezi told me that she had read through, I would rely on her and deal with the fi les accordingly.

Being a single mother, I could see the struggles that she would go through balancing the demands of parenthood with the pressures of office.

One day, I was told that her son was on drip. I called her and offered that she foregoes the assignment at hand. She told me that the boy had been stabilised and that she was already in office working on the assignment.

Kagezi renewed my belief in the fact that public service is a calling. You either have that calling or you don’t. How else does one explain such dedication, diligence and devotion to work?

It definitely is not because of the pay. Prosecutors in the directorate are the most poorly paid lawyers in the Government.

So it was not about the salary.

So Kagezi had just been appointed Assistant Director of Public Prosecutions in recognition of her hard work, dedication and skillful prosecution.

I would not have been surprised if she was to be appointed a judge.

She had the demeanour, composure, integrity and experience required to do that job.

While we moan her death, we also join the nation in celebrating the life of a woman of strength, dedication and bravery in executing her onerous duties as a prosecutor and a single parent, having lost her husband a few years ago. 

The attributes that she exhibited in the performance of her duties and raising her family, will live with us and we should emulate them. She leaves a legacy in the legal fraternity that we can all be proud to relate to and emulate.

At 47 years of age, Kagezi had reached her prime as a prosecutor. Whoever killed her in front of her children committed a despicable crime. Anybody who can do such an ignoble act does not deserve to be in society.

If Kagezi were alive she would have taken care of such a one. In her absence, therefore, it behoves us all to step up to the fore and do it for her, for her children and for all our children.

Fare Thee Well, Joan Kagezi.

Related

'I watched, held mom’s head on my lap as she died'

Kagezi murder open war on the judiciary - DPP

Kagezi murder: terror trial suspended

Tributes for Kagezi pour in from around the world

Gov’t vows to arrest terrorism prosecutor killers

Kampala bombing trial stalls after prosecutor assassinated

Police investigate prosecutor murder