Chief Justice of Uganda Alfonse Owiny-Dollo has retired after attaining the mandatory retirement age of 70 years.
Owiny-Dollo was appointed Chief Justice on 20 August 2020 by President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, becoming the 13th holder of the office. He replaced Bart Magunda Katureebe, who retired on 19 June 2020 after reaching the constitutional age limit.
Prior to his substantive appointment, Owiny-Dollo served as Acting Chief Justice from 22 June 2020. He had earlier been appointed Deputy Chief Justice on 30 September 2017, a position that under Ugandan law also makes its holder the head of the Court of Appeal and the Constitutional Court. He replaced Steven Kavuma, who retired after turning 70.
Background and Career
In 1988, Owiny-Dollo served as legal counsel during peace negotiations between the government of Uganda and the then rebel group, the Uganda People’s Democratic Movement (UPDM). In that role, he drafted the peace agreement signed on 3 June 1988 at Pece Stadium in Gulu.
Between 1994 and 1996, he was a member of the Constituent Assembly that drafted the 1995 Constitution of Uganda. He later served as a Member of Parliament representing Agago County in the Sixth Parliament (1996–2001).
From 2006 to 2008, Owiny-Dollo acted as legal counsel to South Sudan’s Vice President, Riek Machar, who mediated peace talks between the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and the Government of Uganda.
In 2008, he was appointed a Judge of the High Court of Uganda, where he served until 2015. That year, he was promoted to the Court of Appeal. However, he delayed assuming the new role in order to conclude a high-profile terrorism trial arising from the 2010 Kampala bombings that killed 76 people. The case was concluded in May 2016.
In August 2017, President Museveni appointed him Deputy Chief Justice, a role he held until his elevation to Chief Justice in 2020.
Controversies
Owiny-Dollo’s tenure was not without controversy.
In March 2022, while speaking at the home of the late Speaker of Parliament Jacob Oulanyah, the Chief Justice accused some Baganda of protesting outside a hospital in Seattle, United States, where Oulanyah was admitted, demanding his return to Uganda for treatment. The remarks sparked public outrage, with critics accusing him of ethnic insensitivity.
“Your ethnic leader was transported in a presidential jet to Germany using public funds he was not entitled to. You didn’t demonstrate. Is it because Oulanyah is an Acholi? Is it because Oulanyah doesn’t speak your language?” Owiny-Dollo said at the time.
Following the backlash, Owiny-Dollo, accompanied by former Uganda People’s Congress (UPC) president Olara Otunnu, met the Katikkiro of Buganda, Charles Peter Mayiga, at Bulange, Mengo, where he apologised for his remarks, including claims that the Kabaka had used a presidential jet for medical treatment abroad.
In March 2021, controversy also arose at the Supreme Court during the hearing of the presidential election petition filed by former presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi, popularly known as Bobi Wine. Supreme Court Justice Esther Kisakye accused the Chief Justice of ordering the confiscation of files containing her minority ruling.
According to Justice Kisakye, the ruling was removed on the Chief Justice’s instructions before it could be read in court.
On 11 February 2025, President Museveni established a Tribunal of Inquiry to investigate the conduct of Justice Kisakye in relation to the handling of the March 18, 2021 presidential election petition. The period following the petition was marked by strained relations between Justice Kisakye and Chief Justice Owiny-Dollo.
In July 2023, Justice Kisakye retired from the Supreme Court and later fled into exile, citing threats to her life.
Owiny-Dollo exits the judiciary after a long career spanning peace negotiations, legislative service, and senior judicial leadership, leaving behind a legacy marked by both significant contributions to Uganda’s legal development and notable controversy.
