Looming Constitutional Crisis in Uganda

Article 144 of Uganda’s Constitution requires members of the Supreme Court to retire upon reaching the age of 70.  The Constitution also provides that the involuntarily retiring justices shall serve three additional months in order to finish their judgments and wrap up affairs.  There are no exceptions and the retirements occur by operation of law.  There are no exceptions.

Chief Justice Benjamin Odoki served as the lead drafter of Uganda’s 1995 Constitution, earning the widely used moniker “Father of the Constitution.”  He became Chief Justice in 2001 when his predecessor aged out.

On March 23, 2013, Chief Justice Odoki turned 70 and officially “retired.”  Today, June 23, 2013, the three months he continues in office expires.  As of tomorrow (Monday), he will no longer be CJ.  As in the United States, the President appoints justices to the Supreme Court.  As of today, no successor has been named.

And no one seems to know when the President will act or whom he will appoint.  When we wake up tomorrow, Uganda will be neck deep in a constitutional crisis.

There has been some chatter about a possible extension of Chief Justice Odoki’s term, but there is no obvious constitutional escape hatch.  Once upon a time, the Ugandan President was limited to two five-year terms under the Constitution, but that provision was revoked prior to the 2006 election, allowing President Museveni to be elected to a third term.  And then in 2011, to a fourth term.  But no such amendments have been tendered to Parliament to allow the CJ to continue to serve.

The Constitution does allow the President to appoint, when necessary, judges to serve on short-term contracts.  There has been some chatter suggesting that President Museveni could invoke that provision and appoint Chief Justice Odoki to serve as a contract judge, and then re-appoint him Chief Justice for a specified term.  But it is not at all clear that the Ugandan Constitution would permit a contract judge to be the Chief Justice.  Such an appointment would almost certainly guarantee a constitutional challenge, which would be easily filed given the almost non-existent standing requirements for the filing of such a challenge in Uganda.

In any event, it will be interesting to watch this unfold from inside the country.

Chief Justice Odoki has been an excellent Chief Justice and the country would benefit from his continued service.  If the baton is passed, however, there are some highly qualified and talented judges ready to fill his sizable shoes, if need be.

OK, back to life in Uganda.  Jessica, Joline, and the Gregstons arrived back into Kampala late Thursday night after a very tiring, though utterly satisfying, ten-day mobile medical trip around southern Uganda during which they treated over fifteen hundred patients in community clinics.

Friday morning was spent sorting and repacking medications in and among the six trunks they use.  I was a heap of help.

“What is this for?  What does this one taste like?  What does ‘suppository’ mean?  Oh wait, it is called Rectol, so I think I might know where it goes.”

Their patience with me quickly evaporated, so they sent me with Dr. Jay to go to the nearby clinic and carry boxes.  With my octogenarian back, I wasn’t much help there, either.  Regrettably, my face made a brief appearance on the “Useless” Wikipedia page.  An exclamation point was added to this during a phone call with a lawyer friend in DC who works with families who run into challenges in the adoption process here in Uganda.  The case we discussed appears to be intractable, and (in my humble opinion) for what is likely a good reason.  As much as I want to help orphans find homes, and find them immediately, not every would-be adoption involves an actual orphan in need of a family.  My prayer is that those who, for all the right reasons, are trying to help a child will do prodigious research and investigation in advance in order to ensure that the child they seek to adopt is among the large group who are truly in need of a loving home.  With all due respect, children who are living in poverty within a family should not be included within the group identified to be in need of adoption.  Exit soapbox.

In the afternoon, however, I regained my footing by taking Joline off for an eighteen-hour anniversary date, which we had missed while she was on the road.  We checked in at the Golf Course Hotel and took a real shower — the first in quite a while without having to hold the anemic-spraying shower head with one hand.  From there, we went for a couple’s massage at the Emin Pasha Spa.  We followed that with dinner and a movie (Olympus has Fallen).  The rest of the date falls into the category of “what happens in Kampala . . . stays in Kampala.”

The next morning, we set off early for Jinja.  On the way, we picked up Kate and Beth Kirchner, twin sisters we know from home who are here for a couple months serving several different organizations.  They are teachers and are looking to relocate to Uganda at some point down the road.  Our goal was to introduce them to our friends at Amazima to explore some possibilities.  Mission accomplished.

On the way back from Jinja, we stopped off at a church to visit some friends of the Gregstons.  While there, we got to hang out with some really cool kids, most of whom loved my daughter Jessica.

Jessica and her Fan Club

One of them (appropriately named Jonah) was convinced he could take me for a piggyback ride.  Unfortunately, he badly miscalculated how much a beached whale weighs.  On the good side of the ledger, he only blew three discs so his spinal surgery should only be a half-day affair.

Jonah Carrying his Whale

On Sunday morning, we got to attend Gaba Community Church again, which is where we worshiped when we lived here in 2012.  It was good to be back.  I remain amazed at the energy expended in worship by the locals.  One dude burned more kcals during the singing than I expend during the P90X “Cardio X” video.  But let’s be real, I pull up a chair and activate the “ff” button out pretty early into the video anyway.

After church, we picked up Henry from school and took him shopping for his first proper suit.  Joline is describing the shopping experience a bit more in her upcoming post, but suffice it to say that the shop merchants smelled our mzungu money from a kilometer away and ensured they met their profit quota for the month.

Henry (in his school uniform) with the Gregstons, Joline, Jessica, and Me

On Monday morning, I will have the long-overdue opportunity to fulfill a promise I made over a year ago.