Justice Kenneth Kakuru
Justice Kenneth Kakuru, one of the five justices delivering the judgment in the Consolidated Petitions against the removal of the Age Limit has said that the amendments relating to the Age Limit were unconstitutional.
This has seen several Ugandans social media praise the 60 year old judicial officer with some changing their names to include Kakuru’s.
The justice says that the petitioners should also be paid costs of the suit.
“The Consolidated Petitions substantially succeed. I hereby declare the constitutional amendments relating to the Age Limit unconstitutional. Orders costs to be paid to the petitioners,” said Justice Kakuru.
Kakuru said that the process surrounding the age limit removal was irregular citing what he called criminalizing a section of the society that was opposed to the removal of presidential age limits.
“The Police acted in a partisan manner in relation to the Age Limit legislation process,” said Justice Kakuru.
“What happened in the passing of the Age Limit law appears to have been window dressing and a clumsy one, said Justice Kenneth Kakuru.
Kakuru, like three other justices equally rejected the extension of the term of Parliament and Local governments from 5 to 7 years.
He said it would set a very dangerous precedent and arm Parliament with lots of powers to even “vote for the removal of Uganda and replace it with a monarchy.”
At the time of publishing this article, the 4th Judge, Justice Remmy Kasule was delivering his judgment in the Age Limit Petition.
He will be followed by Deputy Chief Justice Alphonse Owiny Dollo who is leading the panel that also has Hon. Lady Justice Elizabeth Musoke and Justice Cheborion Barishaki.
About Justice Kakuru
He was one of the direct appointments into the judiciary from private practice. He also issued a minority view that all interim orders made by a single judge of the Constitutional Court which are in force were null and void and of no effect in the matter of Murisho Shafi & 4 others against Kalisa & Another (Misc. Application No. 0437 of 2016)13 petitioning the Constitutional Court for a temporary injunction restraining the IGG and Attorney General and prosecution from the Anti-Corruption Court until the petition is determined at the Constitutional Court.