Justice Kenneth Kakuru of the Constitutional Court has passed away. Reliable reports claim that Justice Kakuru passed away at Nairobi’s Aga Khan Hospital after losing his battle against cancer.
“He died in Nairobi. He’s been too ill,” the source claimed.
Judge Kakuru’s passing was confirmed by a second source in the judiciary, who added that the Judiciary would make a statement soon.
Judge Kakuru, 65, requested in a letter to Justice Benjamin Kabiito, chair of the Judicial Service Commission, that President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni receive his application for retirement in 2021.
The judge explained that he intended to retire at 63 years old rather than the required retirement age of 70 for the Court of Appeal/Constitutional Court Justices since he had been urged by his doctors to take a break.
During the Age Limit Debate in 2018, Justice Kakuru won the hearts of many Ugandans when he issued a dissenting judgment, asserting that it was illegal for the members of the Parliament to remove the Age Limit cap for one to run for President, the highest office in the nation, which was previously set at the age of 75.
“MPs lack any inherent potency. They hold authority that is owed to the people. The authority is delegated. The Attorney General made a false claim when he said that MPs could alter anything. It must be refused, and I do so as a result, according to Kakuru, who also criticized the Attorney General’s arguments as being illogical in the petition that attempted to overturn the constitutional revisions.
Justice Kakuru has been remembered as a bold guy who will be missed for his love of democracy and the rule of law by some of the attorneys who have handled matters before him.
Samuel Muyizzi Mulindwa, a lawyer, praises Justice Kakuru for being the first judge to say that Museveni is an authoritarian and that we live in a dictatorship when seen in the appropriate context of his decision to relax the age restriction.
Another attorney, Steven Kalali, recalls Justice Kakuru as an inspiration and a fierce defender of the rule of law who stood by his profession over the years while remaining a judge and an advocate.
The decision he made in the well-known Togikwatako Mabirizi petition about the age cap , as well as the most recent decision regarding the annulment of Section 25 of the Computer Misuse Act brought by Andrew Karamagi and Robert Shaka against Attorney General, deserve the most respect, in my opinion.
As a supporter of the rule of law, I will always mourn his significant loss to defending our democratic values and upholding the Ugandan constitution. He was one of the important justices, and whenever he was on a panel hearing a petition, you could be sure that the decision would be just, Kalali said.
Concerning Justice Kakuru
The Reverend Eliakim Kamujanduzi, an elder and senior educator denied the Omugabe of Ankole Charles Rutahaba Gatsyonga Holy Communion at Ruharo Parish on the grounds that the kingship was polygamous.
Most people believe Kakuru may have picked up this trait from his father. Kakuru was born in 1958.
Justice Kakuru received his primary and secondary education at neighbourhood schools in Uganda, the region of his birth (South Western Uganda).
He earned a Bachelor of Law from Makerere University where he studied law.
Kakuru also held a Master of Laws degree from the same institution and a Post Graduate Certificate in Legal Practice from Kampala’s Law Development Center.
He also held a Master’s degree from Kyambogo University in Educational Policy Planning and Development.
He has belonged to professional organizations like the International Bar Association, the Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide, the Uganda Law Society, and the East African Law Society.
He established Kakuru and Company Advocates, a law firm well known for its public interest litigation contributions to the nation’s environmental jurisprudence.
He is renowned for his sense of humour when handling legal situations.
At one point, multiple attorneys characterized him as a judge who you couldn’t go before and leave if you weren’t happy with his ruling.
Having wed Charity Nankunda Kakuru on January 14, 2012, Justice Kakuru has fathered a child and been a husband.
