The Court of Appeal will today hold a special session to honor the fallen Justice Kenneth Kakuru.
Kenneth Kakuru died on Monday at the age of 65 in Aga Khan Hospital -Nairobi where he had been admitted for treatment and after a lengthy illness.
According to the Chief Registrar of the Judiciary Sarah Langa Siu, the special court session will be held on 9th March 2023 at Judiciary Headquarters in Kampala and a host of Judicial officers and legal professionals have been invited to attend the event.
The outspoken judge, had in 2021, applied to retire seven years ahead of his scheduled retirement date, due to ill health. Justice Kakuru was born in 1958 and has been serving as a justice of the Court of Appeal of Uganda, since May 2013.
Justice Kakuru gained fame for his dissenting judgment in the ‘age limit case’.
In the aforementioned case, Justice Kakuru was the only one of five judges to rule that the amendment of the Constitution in 2017, which was called to remove lower and upper age limits for presidential and local government candidates, was done illegally.
He based his ruling on a number of factors, but especially on what he called a lack of consultation with the public, during the process of the amendment.
Before joining the Judiciary, Justice Kakuru practised law through his firm, Kakuru and Company Advocates, and distinguished himself as an environmental rights attorney and an expert in public interest litigation. He held a bachelor of laws degree as well as Master of laws degree, both from Makerere University.
He also held a post graduate diploma in legal practice from the Law Development Centre, and a second master’s degree in educational policy, planning and development from Kyambogo University.
Kenneth Kakuru was married to the late Winnie Ikiriza Kakuru until her death in 2009, and together they parented three children, Sama, Tracy and Rose. On 14 January 2012, he married Charity Nankunda Kakuru, his current wife.
He will be buried on Saturday.