COUNSEL SSEMANDA

LLB @MakerereLaw
90th Guild President Aspirant
91st GRC @maklaw

PASSIONATE ABOUT THE LAW AND POLITICS.
#HUSTLER.

[UgHistory @UGHistory256]

14 March 2007.

Kampala High Court.

Over 700 lawyers, dressed in white shirts and black suits, gathered in silence.

They had been on strike for three days.

Now they were here to perform an ancient ritual of purification.

At the front, a lawyer held aloft a blood‑stained shirt, evidence of what the state had done in this very building two weeks earlier.

The Cleansing of the Court - 2007

The procession, led by Chief Justice Benjamin Odoki and Uganda Law Society President Oscar John Kihika, circled the court building in a symbolic cleansing ceremony.

Kihika described it as an "age‑old African ritual designed to purify the court."

The bloodied shirt and tie belonged to Kiyemba Mutale, a lawyer who had been beaten unconscious during a government raid on the High Court on 1 March.

That day, armed security forces from the "Black Mamba" anti‑terrorism unit had stormed the criminal registry to re‑arrest nine treason suspects who had just been granted bail after 15 months in detention.

During the hours‑long standoff, Mutale was attacked.

The suspects were beaten, bundled into a police vehicle, and taken away.

The raid was a grim echo of November 2005, when the same unit had laid siege to the High Court to prevent the release of the same men during Kizza Besigye's presidential campaign.

The 2007 attack triggered an unprecedented response.

On 5 March, Uganda's judges went on a week‑long strike to protest the assault on judicial independence.

On 12 March, the Uganda Law Society began its own three‑day sit‑down strike, demanding an apology and concrete reforms.

Five ULS members who held high‑level government positions were suspended.

Justice James Ogoola captured the gravity:

"The point had to be made. They will not survive unless the rule of law, independence of the judiciary and all other fundamental principles that hold the nation together are back to form."

President Museveni eventually expressed regret for the incident and promised a "legal and transparent modus operandi" for future arrests.

The judges and lawyers returned to work.

But the ceremony on 14 March was more than a conclusion, it was a declaration.

Mutale's bloodied shirt, held high before the committee tasked with investigating the raid, was not just evidence.

It was a symbol that the judiciary would not be cowed.

The cleansing was not merely ritual.

It was a line drawn in the dust of a courtroom, a reminder that even in the face of armed men, the law could still speak.

#ughistory #ULS @ug_lawsociety
@Lawpointuganda @JudiciaryUG

[Ahmednasir Abdullahi SC @ahmednasirlaw]

"Tehran is transparent about its negotiating tactics. “The Iranian negotiation style is generally known in the world as the ‘bazaar style,’ which means continuous and tireless bargaining,” Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi wrote in his 2025 diplomatic memoir. “This method is a process of interaction that requires great patience and time,” and thus, “he who gets tired and bored quickly will lose.”" @ksadjadpour @TheAtlantic

[Ahmednasir Abdullahi SC @ahmednasirlaw]

Ready to file the first case on "marex tort" in Kenya. "Marex tort" is a brand new claim developed by English courts that allows a decree holder to go after a third party who helps the judgment debtor frustate the enforcement of the decree. The English courts have ruled that no defence can be raised againt a "marex tort". @omwanza @NelsonHavi

[COUNSEL SSEMANDA @counselssemanda]

lazy🤣😂

[Caxstone P. Kigata @CaxstonePKigata]

Court of Appeal has castigated ELC JudgeNjoroge for being lazy in writing Judgements. The judge copied and pasted the pleadings and submissions resulting in a verbose Judgement.

https://t.co/PV7by8MYe3

[Jim Spire Ssentongo @SpireJim]

This demonstrates the damage that some people cause to others online, just to get a little ‘food’. The person on camera represents the rest of us who simply look on or share toxic stuff for likes.

[Kahinda Otafiire @otafiire_k]

Thank you for congratulating me, albeit after expelling me in Senior One. Hahaha!!

K.O

[𝓐𝓲𝓷𝓸𝓶𝓾𝓰𝓲𝓼𝓱𝓪 𝓙𝓲𝓶 @ainomugishajim]

This gentleman is called Robert Kirunda (PhD, MCIArb). He has the kind of intellect that makes law look like the simplest thing in the world.

If you want to understand who he is, look at how he and his team represented Vantage Mezzanine Fund in its long-running legal and arbitration battles against businessman Patrick Bitature and his Simba Group companies. Those cases showcased a legal mind operating at the highest level, navigating complex cross-border finance disputes, arbitration proceedings, enforcement actions, and high-stakes commercial litigation with remarkable precision. He stood at the center of a legal team that secured major victories for Vantage across multiple proceedings and appeals, consistently defeating attempts to block enforcement and derail arbitration processes. His legal stature goes beyond the Bitature disputes. His expertise in arbitration and commercial law earned him appointment to the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, a rare distinction reserved for lawyers whose work commands international respect. Dr. Kirunda is one of the strongest commercial litigation and arbitration lawyers Uganda has been blessed with. He belongs to that rare class of lawyers who can walk into the most complex commercial dispute and make the law appear effortless. The frightening thing about people like him is that they make extraordinarily difficult legal work look normal. I am certain he inspires many lawyers because excellence at that level cannot be hidden.

[Robert Greene @RobertGreene]

Your greatest power in seduction is your ability to turn away, to make others come after you, delaying their satisfaction.

[Guido @Full_Metal_QR]

The most intelligent men regard a difficult task as a privilege.

- Nietzsche

[Robert Greene @RobertGreene]

Do not wait for a coronation; the greatest emperors crown themselves.

[Yusuf Serunkuma🌹 @YusufSerunkuma]

sounds like fiction, but the absolute truth – and still rolling.

[ChiefHerbalist @HerbalistChief]

The writer of this book died in a car bomb. Think about that !!

[𝕊𝕡𝕣𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕻𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕤 @SprinterPress]

IMF and World Bank are 'designed to keep developing countries poor' — Economist

[MUKIGA NENKI @mukigawamuhoozi]

Bakiga we say
Ekikuru Namagara

What a best moment for Hon @RebeccaKadagaUG to be alive today to see AAA have no even chance to give an opinion as first female chair about the next house 😂

He who laughs last
Karma is a bitch yarabi 😂🙌

[Elison Karuhanga @elisonk]

https://t.co/WBtu5wP5mY