ULS PRESIDENCY! Legal ‘rebel’ Ssemakadde rebuts recent reports, but...silent on ties to a top politician at parliament

Self styled legal ‘rebel’ Isaac Ssemakadde who is vying for Uganda Law Society (ULS) presidency has come out to clarify on circulating reports questioning his ‘track record’ when he was the president of Makerere Law Society (MLS) twenty years ago and as well his professional conduct after he was accused in court documents by the Law Development Centre (LDC) of acting as a mercenary to sit bar Course pre-entry exams for another student in 2011.

However, curious Ugandans who are closely following the on-goings and in particular lawyers who will be voting for Bernard Oundo successor this Saturday are wondering why Ssemakadde did not clarify on his campaign team’ links to a top politician at Parliament.

“Why is he not clarifying on that? Where does he get money to traverse the whole country in the guise of campaigning for ULS presidency when he could actually be on a secret political mobilization? Who funds him to an extent of sleeping at Speke apartments? We need answers as the voting day nears,” says one of the city lawyers responding to Ssemakadde’s rebuttal.

Reports indicate that a section of lawyers are concerned about ULS’s independence.

Some lawyers are worried about ULS’s independence, feeling that top politicians are secretly backing candidates to influence the organization’s mandate.

Specifically, a top official at Parliament is allegedly supporting Ssemakadde’s bid, which may explain his aggressive defense of this politician on social media.

“We expected him to address the allegations surrounding his campaign team’s links to this top politician at Parliament, but… he remained eerily silent on the matter,” added another lawyer.

To drive this point home, his reporting of this politician’s online critics to USAID and the US Embassy has sparked skepticism.

Titled, “Corrective Action Required: Agather Atuhaire, Godwin Toko, Jimmy Spire Ssentongo, and Agora Center for Research Ltd, in a protest notice dated September 20, Ssemakadde opines that the digital actions of activists Agather, Toko, Spire, and their organization Agora, under the USAID-CIPESA project (Your Rights Activity, YRA), have deviated from the original objectives, harming Uganda’s democratic discourse.

“Despite YRA funding, Agora has responded to transparency and accountability calls with defensiveness, privacy breaches, intimidation, harassment, and online mobbing of dissenting voices.

“This behavior is unacceptable, especially since it is funded by American tax dollars, potentially undermining USAID-promoted democratic values and rule of law,” Ssemakadde wrote and further added: “We urge Agora to correct their course, adhere to the original grant objectives, and respect democratic engagement, privacy, and non-discrimination principles.

“Failure to do so will lead to further action, including legal consequences, to protect the rights and safety of individuals targeted by Agora’s malevolent actions. We expect prompt corrective action.”

POLITICAL MOBILISATION?

Ssemakadde’s actions have also reportedly raised questions about his true intentions: is he focused on ULS’s vision or advancing his political agendas and those of his backers?

A section of lawyers are also concerned that Ssemakadde may be having his eyes and heart on politics and not ULS vision, goals and objectives.

We are told this could explain why he is traversing the whole country in the guise of ULS presidency campaigns when in actual sense is raising his political profile with the blessings of the same top politician at Parliament.

Sources say this could also explain why Ssemakadde is these days attacking NUP principal Bobi Wine.

“Bobi Wine’s servile cheerleading for selective sanctions exposes his political opportunism and betrayal of Uganda’s sovereignty. He prioritizes Western approval over local solutions, perpetuating dependency and colonialism just like the dictatorship he claims to oppose! When you let a monkey carry your baby, don’t be surprised when it throws it to the ground. A champion of the people? No, a pawn in global political games,” Ssemakadde wrote in May this year reacting to Wine’s views about UK and US sanctions against a section of Ugandans.

Many lawyers who will be voting on Saturday are now skeptical about Ssemakadde’s true intentions—whether he will champion their causes and Ugandans at large or use the ULS presidency to advance his political agendas and those of his backers once voted for.

This publication has also learnt that this top politician at Parliament may be in hot soup for having interest in Ssemakadde’s ULS presidency bid.

Sources say NRM honchos are not happy and a riot act may be read to this politician very soon but this is a story for another day.

“By the end of this year, I estimate that Isaac Ssemakadde will be among Uganda’s top three male public figures in terms of Google tracking data. His militancy and theatrics make even Besigye and Bobi Wine seem mild. Today, I started monitoring Google data on him,” political analyst Timothy Kalyegira recently observed.

We are also told that many lawyers who will be voting on Saturday are unhappy with Ssemakadde’s recent utterances attacking a well established legal firm like AF Mpanga Advocates which directly employs over 40 staff.

Ironically, there are unpalatable reports coming from Ssemakadde’s Legal Brains Trust which has since curiously shifted offices from Teachers House along Bombo road but these will be in our subsequent publications after confirming their authenticity.

MLS PRESIDENCY

Recent reports raised questions about his leadership capabilities stemming from the days when he was the president of Makerere Law Society (MLS), 20 years ago.

During his presidency at the same school, there was an incident that almost saw Makerere University School of Law blacklisted from the books of a major democracy governance funder— The Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES), a non-profit German foundation funded by the Government of the Federal Republic of Germany.

During his tenure, MLS organized a conference with financial support from FES.

However, after the event, the funders were reportedly not satisfied with the accountability report that was handed over to them.

There were also allegations that some funds were channeled to an individual bank account.

The matter was so serious that it had to be referred to the Law School’s disciplinary committee.

This publication has also managed to talk to one of the senior lawyers who served on the same MLS Cabinet with Ssemakadde but preferred not to be on record.

He said “generally there were administrative challenges [during Ssemakadde tenure] but council sat and resolved them”.

He did not specify the exact challenges.

When pressed about the allegations of donors being not satisfied with the accountability report that had been submitted, this senior lawyer said the issue revolved around ‘unutilized funds’ but was resolved.

“Like I said there were some unutilized funds due to administrative challenges. But the council sat and it was resolved,” he clarified.

Ssemakadde however, in response, says he successfully represented MLS at various national and international conferences.

“The truth is my tenure as MLS president (2005-2006) was marked by excellence. In collaboration with the Human Rights and Peace Centre then led by Dr Joe Oloka-Onyango, I secured a four-year grant worth $63,577.21 from the Norwegian aid agency (NORAD) to promote continued involvement of law students in governance and civil society issues,” he explained.

PROFESSIONAL MISCONDUCT ALLEGATIONS AT LDC

Memories of Ssemakadde being probed for alleged professional misconduct at Law Development Centre (LDC) are still fresh among some lawyers who will be voting for a new ULS president on Saturday.

According to court documents seen by this publication, in February 2016, LDC sub-committee headed by former Supreme Court Judge, late Stella Arach Amoko commissioned a damning report after months of investigating allegations of examination malpractice at the institution allegedly committed between 2004 and 2011.

Following the probe, several advocates had their diplomas cancelled or recalled.

In other recommendations, a student (names withheld) was referred to the Law Council for further action alongside Isaac Ssemakadde Kimeza who allegedly assisted the former in sitting for him the exams.

According to the report, the committee received information that Ssemakadde acted as a mercenary and sat pre-entry examinations for the student -BAR/138/2011.

Ssemakadde (mercenary) went on to score 50 percent and his ‘client’ (student) was admitted to pursue the Bar Course at LDC in the academic year 2011/2012.

During the hearing, Ssemakadde was invited and appeared before the committee on 29th July, 2015 together with his legal representatives Messrs Eron Kizza and Peter Kibirango.

They denied all the allegations.

Ssemakadde reportedly acknowledged knowing the student but denied ever sitting exams for him.

“I know [student’s names withheld]. He is my brother in the extended family sense…we are brothers who are now estranged,” Ssemakadde reportedly told the committee.

When asked whether he knew the student’s had writing, he stated that he had last seen it in primary school.

Ssemakadde reportedly expressed betrayal on the side of the student with this false allegation and demanded that the LDC should write to him an apology letter once he was cleared.

The committee then proceeded to handle over scripts of the student and that of Ssemakadde (Commercial Transactions bearing INDEX No.BAR/475/2007 dated 23^rd August, 2008) to handwriting experts for comparison as the student had sat for Term 1 exams at the LDC while Semakadde had completed the Bar Course at LDC (in the academic year 2007/2008).

The Forensic Document Examiners (FDE) Laboratory Report concluded that “it is most likely that the writer of the questioned documents is the same person [Ssemakadde]”.

Ssemakadde wasn’t satisfied with the report and requested to cross-examine the analyst but the committee concluded that the matter could be resolved through a trial.

Typical of him, Ssemakadde reportedly rebuked the LDC for lack of respect for her alumni and for not helping those who are vulnerable. He also regretted that some lawyers do not show respect to those new to the Bar.

The committee concluded that as an Advocate of the High Court, Ssemakadde fell within the mandate of law Council for any matters touching professional misconduct.

The student was discontinued from the LDC and barred from applying for any other courses at the LDC.

However, in response to these reports, Ssemakadde accuses the LDC of bias in handling the matter.

Below is his rebuttal on the matter.

He wrote: “The regurgitation of debunked allegations made against me by the Law Development Centre (LDC) more than ten years ago is a desperate smokescreen: a thinly veiled attempt to discredit me and shut the door on my spirited advocacy against that moribund institution and its gatekeepers inside the NRM government.

The notion that I sat the inaugural LDC bar course pre-entry exams for an applicant without being recognized is laughable, especially considering my established reputation even at that time as a former MLS president, social critic, Advocate of the High Court of Uganda and public interest litigant. Moreover, three of my interns at Legal Brains Trust were part of the 1000-plus cohort of applicants whose pre-entry exam was administered by the Law Council at the UMA Multipurpose Hall in Lugogo. …The genesis of these allegations lies in a fictitious whistleblower report, which was crafted sometime in 2011/2012 by those who constantly seek to maintain their grip on power through underhand methods like damaging the careers of their youthful rivals.

To my surprise, it was swiftly and secretively endorsed by a “forensic investigation” committee of so-called experts including two senior lecturers at the Makerere University School of Law, Dr Rose Nakayi and Dr Ronald Kakungulu-Mayambala. However, when their “forensic investigation report” was presented to a second LDC committee comprising three reputable jurists, namely retired judge Augustus Kania, Prof Frederick Jjuuko and former chairperson of the Uganda Human Rights Commission, Hon Margaret Sekaggya, it was thrown out, the citing lack of jurisdiction.

Instead of heeding the guidance of the troika and absolving me immediately, a third LDC committee presided over by Dr Pamela Tibihikirwa-Kalyegira, with former ULS president James Mark Sebugenyi acting as its “Counsel”, unsuccessfully tried to continue the farce. They eventually recommended me to the Law Council “for disciplinary action” despite a glaring lack of jurisdiction and evidence…

In a letter dated 4 September 2024, the Law Council secretary Ms Margret Nabakooza informed the chairperson of the ULS Elections Committee that “Mr Isaac Kimaze Ssemakadde has not been convicted of an offence by the Law Council.” She also clarified that the Law Council is “not aware of any complaint against me” except the Chief Registrar’s allegations of a post on X (formerly Twitter) which an unnamed judge “deemed an abuse.””