Chairperson of the ongoing Commission of Inquiry into matters of land fraud, Justice Catherine Bamugemereire has come under criticism for what some have called unfair treatment of witnesses and ‘dramatizing’ the hearings. Others have accused her of being an attention seeker in executing her duty during the probe instituted by President Yoweri Museveni.
Lady Justice Bamugemereire’s woes were sparked this week during her questioning of the Cabinet Minister for Lands, Betty Amongi. For two consecutive days, Amongi was seriously quizzed to explain her alleged involvement in land grabbing and the corruption that has wrecked the Land Fund and Uganda Land Commission, both under her docket. But Bamugemereire’s critics have accused her of using a demeaning tone in addressing Minister Amongi by referring to her as “young lady”.
Rights defender and constitutional lawyer, Nicholas Opio attacked Lady Justice Bamugemereire for being discourteous and unfair to Amongi. He equated her conduct to ‘judicial hooliganism’.
“The allegations against Hon Betty Amongi, the Lands Minister, are grave and we all must be outraged about them, if true. But we must not excuse any ‘judicial hooliganism’ in the name of toughness,” Opio wrote on his Facebook days ago. He added that “any tribunal or quasi-judicial institution/body should not only appear to be fair but must actually be fair to witnesses before it”.
“Calling a grown up, married woman, mother and minister ‘young lady’ and banging tables while raising your voice is not only discourteous but conduct uncommon among decent judicial officers,” the renowned lawyer stated.
On his part, Director of Communications at Parliament, Chris Obore said that Bamugemereire’s behavior in her interaction with Amongi was typical of a public officer seeking attention of the media.
“The trend public officials are taking of struggling to capture media and public attention unnecessarily is dangerous for our governance. Instead of letting their work speak for them, they instead want to force public discussion about them,” Obore said.
He said that Judges feel they are left out in “the competition for public attention” and that Bamugemereire’s choice of words was aimed at nothing but to play to the gallery.
“Though politicians need media, they also need to set the pace in maintaining public decorum. It’s now getting worse that the judiciary which was known for being sober and measured, is now clamoring for media attention,” Obore said.
The issue has divided the opinion of the public, with some supporting Opio and Obore while others defended the Lady Justice.