The appointment of Gashirabake Christopher to the Constitutional Court is desecration of the Constitutional Court and the Constitution of Uganda. This is someone with a sexual harassment claim brought against him in the Industrial Court- Labour Dispute Reference no. 353 of 2019 [arising from Labour Dispute KCCA/RUB/LC/560/2019. That claim has been in the media so it is very hard to understand why the Judicial Service Commission (JSC) would recommend someone to such an office with a claim against him, one involving moral turpitude!
It is an undisputed fact that the claimant filed among other documents an email in which she asked the respondent to stop harassing her. She chronicled what she had been going through for over a decade at his hands. His response was “Noted. Was this missive required!!!!” It begs the question- why would someone accused of gross misconduct merely take note of the allegation. The record also shares experiences of other women who have suffered sexual harassment meted out by him. Social media is awash with jokes being made about the fact that “he is going to eat those clerks” – simply put that it is expected that clerks are going to face sexual harassment at his hands!
Article 144(2)(b) of the Constitution of Uganda requires a Judicial Officer be removed from office only for “misbehavior or misconduct”. It is therefore disingenuous for the JSC to recommend the appointment of someone as a Judicial Officer who they knowingly are aware is facing a claim of sexual harassment. The same article requires that such Judicial Officer shall be removed from office and suspended until a determination of the matter is made! Should the JSC for some unfathomable reason choose to continue with the appointment, they are required not to allow him assume duty until the determination of this matter.
The Constitution guarantees a right to a fair hearing- a right the claimant has been denied. In the determination of the matter administratively, the Ministry of Justice & Constitutional Affairs delayed the hearing of the sexual harassment complaint to allow for the respondent get promoted to Deputy Solicitor General. A sexual harassment committee was then setup in consultation with the respondent and once it was constituted the claimant was not informed of the composition. While they purportedly “investigated” the complaint Gashirabake would occasionally act as Solicitor General, an office that was directly in charge of the Sexual Harassment Committee. Now as Court of Appeal Judge, the Court to which he has been appointed is the same court where an appeal would lie in the event any of the parties are dissatisfied with the lower Courts decision. Where is the fairness in such an appeal even if it were heard by his “colleagues”.
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Article 21 of the Constitution guarantees equality and freedom from discrimination. It requires that no one should be given different treatment based on sex, social or economic standing. It is evident that Gashirabake is benefiting from male privilege as a direct result of his social and economic standing! The claimant being merely a woman of junior rank is being discriminated against. It should be known that even that rank was removed having been dismissed from the Ministry of Justice as a direct consequence of lodging a sexual harassment complaint against Gashirabake. She had served well and with distinction for 12 years, had never been charged with a disciplinary offence until she chose to stand up for herself –then she was unlawfully terminated, a matter which is also before the Industrial Court. This is contrary to the claimant’s constitutionally guaranteed economic rights prescribing a right to practice her profession, requiring Parliament to enact laws to provide for the right of persons to work under satisfactory, safe and healthy conditions. Inspite these laws being in place- The Employment Act 2006, The Employment (Sexual Harassment) Regulations 2012, the claimant remains with an unresolved complaint which was instituted in 2018.
It is therefore interesting to note that in light of all the constitutionally guaranteed rights, the complainant having had these rights abused is yet to receive recourse from court. While she has instituted an Industrial Court Case the JSC finds it prudent to appoint Gashirabake to the Court that will ultimately hear an appeal of the case or even have before it matters of a constitutional nature being interpreted by it. This right here is a desecration of the Constitutional Court and should be stopped!
Mwesigye Samantha (Claimant)
