There are growing concerns over the way the principal judge Dr Flavian Zeija exercises his powers. A litigant has written to Chief Justice Alfonse Owiny-Dollo to intervene and rein in his subordinate. In a letter written on May 13, 2024, but only surfacing now after another litigant filed a petition in the Constitutional court challenging the actions of Zeija of withdrawing cases from judges mid-way through the hearing, Dr Medard Kiconco says the actions of Zeija put a doubt on his neutrality as a judge.

“We pray that if you deem it necessary, you have a word with the PJ [principal judge] and offer guidance. Otherwise, given the high position held by the PJ in the judiciary, the path of lodging a complaint before the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) can easily see the matters herein spill, which situation, as a responsible citizen, and following the wise advice from my lawyers, is avoidable,” Kiconco’s letter to Owiny-Dollo reads in part.

At the centre of the contention is a 130-acre piece of land found at Ssisa in Wakiso district. Kiconco is the attorney representing the descendants of Festo Banja who are Nalongo Margret Zalwango, John Lumansi Kazibwe and Eddy Kimera. These administrators claim that their land was illegally taken over by a company called Ladha Kassam and was being subdivided for sale. 

So, they wanted court to declare that it was mailo land and not freehold land and, therefore, it couldn’t have possibly belonged to Ladha Kassam all whose directors and shareholders are non- Ugandans. In his letter to the chief justice, Kiconco alleges that Zeija called the file which was in the High court Land division before it could be disposed of and decided to hear it himself.

While the case was ongoing, Kiconco’s letter says that the administrators of Banja’s estate decided to apply for an interim order stopping the sale of the said land until the matter is determined. However, Zeija refused to grant the said order, arguing that in the event that he finds that the said land was mailo, the sales would collapse.

“As such, Zeija in effect okayed the further selling of the said land by the defendants while the court case was ongoing. The plaintiffs contend that the said holding was in bad faith since the pleadings before the principal judge were clear with alternative prayers for cancellation of the said freehold titles, if they were existent for having been acquired fraudulently by the defendants,” the letter reads in part.

With Zeija’s ruling, Kiconco’s letter says Ladha Kassam went ahead and sold the land to other people who were also later listed as defendants. The letter adds that when Zeija decided to have a locus visit of the land, he found that the land was being developed by third parties but still refused to fix another application for interim orders to stop the construction until the matter was determined. 

“There were signposts soliciting buyers of the said land which Zeija saw physically and which the plaintiffs’ lawyers put to his attention but he still refused to grant an administrative interim order for three days and even declined to fix for hearing the said application for an injunction and interim order,” the letter reads.

The letter also adds that the complainants were also shocked by Zeija’s decision to volunteer evidence in favour of the registrar of titles who had already withdrawn his statements and asked court to expunge them from the record.

“When we appeared on the said land for locus visit on April 25, 2024, Zeija told us that he wrote to the Administrator General for confirmation as to whether the suit land formed part of the estate of Festo Banja, and the Administrator General replied stating that Festo Banja had another successor not the plaintiffs.

The PJ pulled out a document which he said was the succession register and gave it to us asking us to submit on it in the written submissions. The plaintiffs’ counsel, who were surprised by Zeija’s move to bring in evidence in favour of the defendants who had opted not to tender in any evidence, prayed to cross-examine the Administrator General on the said succession register. Zeija denied the prayer saying that the said Administrator General was not cross-examinable,” Kiconco’s letter reads in part.

All these, the letter concludes, indicate that Zeija “engaged in gross and unexpected misconduct.” In his judgement which came two months after the letter on July 5, 2024, Zeija found that the land belonged to Ladha Kassam as it had rightly changed from mailo to freehold.

“From the evidence on court record, whereas it is true that the suit land was registered in the names of Festo Banja on July 19, 1915 under mailo tenure, the same was converted to freehold tenure under the circumstances herein above explained hence the closure of the mailo register. The conversion was rightly done in line with the laws governing land conveyancing at that time. There is no evidence that this freehold tenure of the suit land was further changed. Therefore, the current tenure of the suit land is freehold,” Zeija’s ruling reads in part.

It also calls on the police criminal investigation department to investigate the administrators of the estate of Banja and their attorney Kiconco for fraudulently acquiring an original title of the said land.

“When counsel for the commissioner for Land registration, who is also a registrar of titles, looked at the title, he noticed that it was the original which is supposed to be in custody of the registrar of titles. When it was submitted to me, I confirmed that indeed it was the original title which is supposed to be in the custody of the registrar of titles.

This points to a criminal act. I then confiscated the title and I’m due to pass on the title to the registrar of titles after delivering this judgement. I had thought of causing the arrest of the plaintiffs who are the donors of the power of attorney but the donee kept them out of site, including at the time of visiting locus in quo...This issue should be taken up for investigation by the Criminal Investigations Department of the Uganda Police Force for possible prosecution of all the perpetrators,” Zeija’s ruling reads in part. 

He also ordered that if the complainants can’t be found, their attorney Kiconco should bear all the costs of the suit to the nine defendants.

“This suit is dismissed with costs to all defendants. It is apparent that the donee of powers of attorney did not disclose the identity of the donors. Under the law of agency, where a person acts for an undisclosed or unidentified principal, the agent is personally liable. Therefore, in the event that Medard Kiconco is unable to disclose the whereabouts of the donors, he will be personally liable to pay the costs of the suit,” the ruling reads. 

Contacted for a comment, Kiconco acknowledged writing the letter which he said was never responded to by the chief justice. He, however, declined to be drawn in the controversy. Efforts to reach out to Zeija for a comment were futile but this is not the first time he is being accused of his overbearing approach at High court.

INTERESTING TREND

Zeija has also been implicated in other cases where he has withdrawn files from a judge while the matters have either been determined or pending determinations. In the most recent one, he called a file from High court judge Grace Magala after she gave a ruling that didn’t amuse the solicitor general Pius Biribonwoha, who wrote to Zeija to exercise his administrative powers and look into the matter. 

Justice Magala’s ruling had restrained Eswatini company Inyatsi Construction Ltd from discharging a bank guarantee in respect of the construction works of the Kabuyanda earth dam in Isingiro district until the final ruling of a suit filed by Plinth Consultancy Services Limited, the project sub-contractor. Shortly afterwards, Magala was transferred to Arua circuit.

Back in 2020, businessman Hamis Kiggundu petitioned the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) accusing Zeija of misconduct in his case against Diamond Trust Bank (DTB). This followed Zeija’s decision to halt the execution of Justice Henry Peter Adonyo’s judgment where Ham Enterprises emerged victorious. Shortly afterwards, Zeija transferred Adonyo to Soroti, from where he retired recently.

In both cases, the losing sides represented by the powerful law firm K&K, whose principals are Attorney General Kiryowa Kiwanuka and Edwin Karugire. Late last year, Zeija was accused of interference when he sought to recall a court order issued by a High court deputy registrar against Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) after it lost a suit to John Imaniraguha.

Judge Stephen Mubiru raised concerns over this interference, emphasizing the importance of judicial decisional independence. Earlier this year, Zeija also recalled a file from then High court acting judge Shamira Bukirwa, who had allowed an extraordinary meeting of the members of the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council, who then voted to impeach Sheikh Shaban Mubajje as the mufti of Uganda.

Thereafter, Zeija suspended the implementation of the resolutions and weeks later, Bukirwa was the only acting judge from 16 not to be considered for the permanent job by President Museveni. So, Zeija later instructed Bukirwa to hand over all judiciary property and files in her possession.

A retired judicial official who preferred anonymity said it is unprecedented for a principal judge to have so many people complaining about him.

“Go check out the tenures of his predecessors [Yorokamu] Bamwine or [Herbert] Ntabgoba and see whether you will find such complaints. The current judiciary needs serious soul searching,” said the official. By MUHAMMAD KAKEMBO, The Observer

BAKU, Azerbaijan, November 12. As part of COP29 in Baku, Trend News Agency proudly presents COP for Hope, a special project offering an unparalleled platform to hear from world leaders and trailblazers in politics, economics, science, and ecology, all united by a shared commitment to addressing today’s pressing climate challenges.

In an exclusive interview with Trend, Felchesmi Jossen Mramba, Permanent Secretary of Tanzania’s Ministry of Energy, outlined his country's expectations for COP29, stressing the critical role of financing and action in achieving climate goals.

"We have a lot of expectations for this meeting," Mramba shared, emphasizing that this meeting is mainly focusing on financing. "We believe that for the world to be able to achieve what we are planning in terms of climate support, it's very important to have facts".

He expressed hope that this fact-based approach, along with genuine commitments from participating countries, will pave the way for substantial progress on climate goals. "With this focus on facts, and hoping that the parties will be faithful to their commitments, we may be able to achieve what we are planning right now," he said.

A core priority for Tanzania at COP29 is promoting "green cooking", a shift toward sustainable cooking methods that address both environmental and health challenges. "Tanzania is coming here to push the idea of green cooking for Tanzania as a country, but also for Africa," the official said.

To further this goal, Tanzania will host a side event on November 12th, focusing on the role of green cooking in combating climate change. "In that side event, we will focus on the importance of green cooking as part of addressing climate change issues," he explained. 

By placing green cooking on the COP29 agenda, the permanent secretary hopes to foster ongoing discussions on the topic. "If this meeting will be able to set the agenda of green cooking as an ongoing agenda for the next meetings to come, we will be able to safeguard our environment," he stated.

Mramba also addressed financing mechanisms, particularly the need to simplify access to carbon financing. "One of the financing mechanisms that has been spoken about a lot is carbon financing," he said. Despite its potential, he noted that knowledge of carbon financing remains limited, which hampers accessibility for countries like Tanzania.

"We believe it’s high time that we simplify the way countries can access carbon financing. Simplify whatever means to access the money," he urged, warning that without such efforts, carbon financing would fail to reach the communities that need it most.

Reflecting on past COP commitments, Mramba highlighted the need for tangible action on the Loss and Damage Fund, a topic discussed at COP28 but one that has seen limited follow-through. "Last year in COP28, a lot was spoken about loss and damage, but we have not seen a lot happening in actuality," he observed. For COP29, Tanzania’s goal is clear: "Our expectation is that we’ll have less talk and more action," Mramba asserted. "It’s only by doing so that we can really attain the intentions of this COP". By Maryana Ahmadova, Trend News Agency

The raging controversy surrounding the proposed leasing of the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) has all the hallmarks of another botched deal involving Qatari investors.

In April this year, Indian conglomerate, Adani Group, proposed to Kenyan authorities to take over JKIA through a 30-year concession, over which it would refurbish the airport and invest in new infrastructure but also have a free hand in running affairs at the airport, including hiking passenger fees and rentals, which it noted that are largely undercharged.

The proposal to Adani Airport Holdings Ltd (AAHL) for a reported Sh238 billion has sparked public outrage, with opponents questioning the prudence of leasing one of the country’s strategic installations without competitive bidding. 

It has since run into legal headwinds after the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) and Law Society of Kenya (LSK) moved to court to block the proposed takeover.

The case filed by KHRC, which was to kick off yesterday, was pushed to November 27, while that filed by the LSK has also been pushed to November 17. This is after the parties in the two cases were told that the judge hearing the matter was not available.

But the President William Ruto-led Kenya Kwanza government seems to have borrowed a leaf straight out of the late President Mwai Kibaki’s administration in another botched deal that almost transferred East Africa’s busiest airport to Qatari investors.

In December 2008, the late Kibaki visited Qatar for three days on a state visit for the International Conference on Finance and Development. 

Kenya was in Doha to seek financing for the Sh455 billion Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia Transport (Lapsset) Corridor Project and the Qataris, keen to diversify their billions of dollars of hydrocarbon investment portfolio, were courting Nairobi.

However, in the weeks that followed, the project that emerged most prominent was the Sh45.4 billion proposal by little-known Qatari investors to transform Kenya’s largest airport and the region’s aviation hub.

In a surprise move on 15th January 2009, a few weeks after Kibaki’s visit from Doha, the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) board of directors signed a concession and lease agreement with the Afro Asia Investment Corporation.

The deal was to lease 90 acres of government land owned by KAA to Afro Asia Investment Corporation (AAIC) for a period of 80 years. 

AAIC would then construct a five-star hotel with 450 rooms, two exhibition centres, two convention centres, five office towers, a 300-room four-star hotel, a 200-bed capacity tourist hospital, a power plant, warehouses and serviced apartments.

Construction was expected to begin in 2010 with the complex scheduled for completion by 2015 as the government drummed up the benefits of the multi-billion-shilling complex. 
“Kenya will have a unique, and probably the largest expo cum convention and trade centre ever established in the African continent, then Transport Ministry Chirau Ali Makwere told Parliament.

“Subsequently, the availability of this state-of-the-art facility, with the latest technology, will make Nairobi an attractive destination for meetings, conferences and exhibitions.”

However, despite the government’s spirited support of the project, some pertinent questions emerged around the project.

In the first place, KAA then-Managing Director George Muhoho, a close ally of President Kibaki and an uncle of then-Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta, was accused of single-handedly brokering the deal without the knowledge or approval of the board of directors.

The identity of the Qatari firm and its directors was also questioned. The government was accused of single-sourcing the multi-billion-shilling deal involving the long-term lease of a strategic asset to unknown individuals.

In a heated session that saw the newly elected Gwassi Constituency MP John Mbadi (now Treasury Cabinet Secretary) kicked out of Parliament, the government was hard-pressed to justify the shadowy deal. 

Kitui East MP at the time, Kiema Kilonzo, asked transport minister Ali Makwere whether the JKIA-Qatari deal was another Anglo-leasing in the making, referring to another scandal that had just rocked the grand coalition government.

“I want the minister to tell this House who are the directors of Afro Asian Company, how old the company is, and what the share capital of this company is,” he said. “If possible, I want the minister to table here their financial statement.”

Mr Kilonzo asked whether the project had undergone competitive bidding, why AAIC was being accorded undue privilege and whether KAA Managing Director George Muhoho had a valid contract.

“A day before the agreement was signed, the chairman and his board told us that the Managing Director had been sacked, just for him to appear on the material day to sign the contract,” said Mr Kilonzo.

“The minister himself confirmed that he was the appointing authority. What is the legality of this contract or is it another Anglo Leasing scandal in the making?”

Mr Makwere told Parliament that the project would be a public-private partnership (PPP) and that all requisite authorities and approvals had been obtained, including from the KAA board, the ministries of transport and finance, the Attorney General’s office, Public Procurement Oversight Authority and the Cabinet.

“The development will be carried out solely at the cost and risk of the investor,” stated Mr Makwere.

“That is without monetary contribution by the KAA, the Government or any other Government agency.”

Makwere told Parliament that this would be Kenya’s first PPP mega project and that the country was adopting a model used by other developing nations.

“This is a process that is done in countries like Malaysia, Djibouti and Rwanda,” he said. “I can assure the House that if there is any investor in the world today with $350 million (Sh45.5 billion) and a project that will create employment and improve our economy, then we will be ready to give that investor even more than 90 acres of land.”

Mr Makwere’s spirited defence of the deal, however, failed to pacify MPs, including Mbadi.

“Is the minister to tell this House that he flouted public procurement rules just to encourage foreign investment?” he posed. The question had him kicked out of the house for the remainder of the session.

The project never kicked off, and a ground-breaking ceremony scheduled for March 2009 with President Mwai Kibaki as the chief guest was called off at the last minute.

It later emerged that AAIC had failed to provide the Sh36 million bank guarantee required as security for the project construction to begin.

In September 2011, almost three years after the deal was signed, the KAA board advised the management of the parastatal to begin formal termination of the deal due to AAIC breaching its contract obligations.

“The lease agreement provided that immediately upon signing, the Investor would pay the costs and disbursements incidental to the Grant and Registration of the Lease,” said KAA in a submission tabled in Parliament.

“The investor did not provide requisite payments for perfection of the lease by way of registration.” 

in the case of the proposed Adani deal, the government has been accused of failing to conduct public participation as required by law and not engaging as stakeholders in the leasing plan.

Reports that the government had entered a commercial deal with the Indian company continue to elicit uproar among the public, leading to a July 23 protest dubbed “Occupy JKIA.”

However, Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi later refuted the claims that the deal had already been signed, saying the proposal from Adani was being scrutinised and due process would be followed.

“This is a public asset, it is a strategic asset and if it was going to be sold, you can only do it after a full public process that Parliament endorses,” said Mudavadi.

Aviation workers, however, insist there is mischief in the deal and that the government is insincere, accusing the management of KAA of orchestrating the lease, and calling for their resignation.

“Beginning with the acting managing director Henry Ogoye, he has failed to engage us. He is negotiating this deal in secret,” said Kenya Aviation Workers Union (Kawu) Secretary-General Moss Ndiema.

“We are privy to information that he was promised that he would be given the position of chief executive officer.” 

Mr Ndiema also alleged that the privatisation of East Africa’s busiest airport will result in unemployment, accusing Adani of plans to scale down the workforce at the facility.

“Adani wants to take over the entire ground handling operations, which again will occasion job losses. They want to dilute terms of employment,” he said. By Frankline Sunday, The Standard