Justice Kenneth Kakuru is dead. Kakuru was a Justice of the Court of Appeal. According to close relatives the Court of Appeal Justice Kenneth Kakuru has passed away at Aga Khan Hospital, Nairobi. The Judiciary spokesperson Jamson Karemani has confirmed.
He had been admitted to Aga Khan Hospital in Nairobi for stage four prostate cancer.
Justice Kakuru who gained fame for his dissenting judgment in the ‘age limit case’, has been on the appellate court’s bench since 2013 when he was tapped from private practice.
In the aforementioned case, Justice Kakuru was the only one of five judges to rule that the amendment of the Constitution in 2017 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 lack of consultation of the public during the process of the amendment.
Justice Keneth Kakuru is the only judge of a five-member panel that voted against the amendment of the Constitution that lifted the cap on the presidential age.
In his judgment, Kakuru stated that there was no public participation before carrying out amendment of the Constitution.
The process of the amendment, he noted, was a planned ambush since the Bill was introduced in Parliament, debated and passed on the same day.
Overall, the judge declared that the process of the amending the Constitution “unconstitutional and a nullity.”
Who was Kenneth Kakuru?
Kenneth Kakuru was a Ugandan lawyer and judge, who served as a justice of the Court of Appeal of Uganda, since May 2013.
He was born in Uganda and attended local schools for his primary and secondary school education. He studied law at Makerere University, graduating with a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree. Later, he graduated with a Master of Laws (LLM) degree, also from Makerere University. His Diploma in Legal Practice was obtained from the Law Development Centre, in Kampala, Uganda’s capital and largest city. He also holds a Master of Arts (MA) degree in Educational Policy Planning and Development, awarded by Kyambogo University.
Work history
Kakuru is the founder and Senior Partner of the law firm of Kakuru & Company Advocates, a Kampala-based law firm, established in 1987.
He established a reputation as an environmental rights attorney and an expert in public interest litigation
He founded as still serves as a non-executive director of Greenwatch Uganda, an environmental advocacy non-profit.
Judicial career
In May 2013, Kakuru was appointed directly to the Uganda Court of Appeal.
Among his professional affiliations, he is a member of the Uganda Law Society, the East African Law Society, the Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide and the International Bar Association.
Other considerations
He is an associate professor at the Uganda Pentecostal University, based in Fort Portal, Kabarole District. He is also an external examiner at the Law Development Center.
Family
Kenneth Kakuru was married to the late Winnie Ikiriza Kakuru (1 June 1958 to 8 March 2009), from 12 September 1987 until her death in 2009, and together they are the parents of three children, Sama, Tracy and Rose.On 14 January 2012, he married Charity Nankunda Kakuru, his current wife.
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