By Priscilla Maloba
Seven lawyers have petitioned the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), disputing the conduct of a judge over a judgment he rendered involving families in Hoima District affected by the East African Crude Oil Pipeline Project (EACOP).
The lawyers are against the decision of Hoima High Court Judge Jesse Byaruhanga Rugyema.
In a December 18 petition from Kiiza & Mugisha Advocates, the lawyers said they are“flabbergasted that the rule of law is being sacrificed on the dirty altar of unmistakable judicial bias, unprofessionalism, incom- petence and other shortfalls by His Lordship Jesse Byaruhanga Rugyema, in a bid to grant favours to government and TotalEnergies”.
The aggrieved lawyers include Eron Kiiza, Dickens Kamugisha, Bashir Twesigye, Frank Tumusiime, Clare Ayebare, Micheal Musiime and Brighton Aryampa.
“We protest in the strongest terms and register our shock, and trepidation regarding the summary order by his Lordship Byaruhanga granted on December 8 to effectively evict and dispossess Tilenga project-affected persons,” the lawyers said.
According to the lawyers, it took Justice Byaruhanga less than four days to grant the wish to TotalEnergies, and refused to hear the other side, despite the pleas. They said Justice Byaruhanga did not give complainants time for replies and to file contrary evidence and legal submissions.
The petition by the lawyers follows the December 8 High Court ruling in Hoima District where the court ruled against 42 households challenging the inadequate compensation by the Tilenga oil project.
The court ruled against dozens of families claiming they were shortchanged when compensated for land used to develop the oil project. Eleven of the 42 households, through their lawyers, are expected to file their appeal today at the Court of Appeal .
Mr Jealousy Mugisha, one of the affected persons, said they got the court summons late, hence couldn’t prepare their defence.
“The ruling was in the favour of the government and TotalEnergies. We asked the judge to give us more
time so that our counsel can read a 400-page document to write a summary defence but it fell on deaf ears,” he told Daily Monitor yesterday.
Mr Eron Kiiza,the lawyer to the affected families, now wants the Judicial Service Commission to punish Justice Byaruhanga.
When contacted, Justice Byaruhanga told this publication to read the record of what happened in court.
“It is not good for a judge to address the press about court matters. But also it is not how they put it be- cause they had lawyers. You cannot have lawyers and say that your rights were trampled upon,” he said by telephone yesterday.
The Commission recruits judicial officers and regulates their conduct. Meanwhile, Ms Maria Tereza Nab-
ulya, the spokesperson of the Judicial Service Commission, said: “The Permanent Secretary received it [pe- tition] and forwarded it to the Directorate of Complaints Investigation and Disciplinary Affairs.”
