Retired Supreme Court Judge Prof. George Kanyeihamba is critically ill, The Daily Star can reliably report. The former cabinet minister is currently admitted at Nakasero Hospital.
“Prof. Kanyeihamba has been bedridden for some time and was admitted to Nakasero Hospital last week,” a source revealed.
Prof. Kanyeihamba, who previously served as a cabinet minister, member of parliament, and chair of the Legal Committee of the Constituent Assembly that drafted the 1995 Constitution, was appointed to the Supreme Court of Uganda in 1997. He retired in November 2009.
Earlier in his career, he held key positions in President Yoweri Museveni’s administration, serving as Minister of Commerce, Minister of Justice, and Attorney General. He earned a Ph.D. in Law from the University of Warwick, which later awarded him an honorary Doctor of Laws (LLD) in 2008.
Kanyeihamba was one of the three Supreme Court justices who ruled that the re-election of President Museveni in 2006 was fraudulent enough to be nullified. Some commentators believe this ruling cost him his position as a judge on the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
He has also been a vocal critic of the Ugandan government, notably condemning the armed invasion of the High Court premises to re-arrest treason suspects who had been released on bail. The Constitutional Court later ruled that the invasion was unconstitutional.
Background and Education
Prof. Kanyeihamba was born on August 11, 1939, in Kinaba, Kinkizi District, Kigezi Region. He was the last-born of eleven children to Zakaliya Bafwokworora and Kyenda Malyamu Kyakundwa.
His early education took place at Hamurwa Church School, Nyaruhanga Anglican Church Primary School, Nyakatare Church School, Kigezi High School, and Busoga College Mwiri. He later attended Norwich City College before earning a Bachelor of Laws from Portsmouth University in the 1970s.
After completing his undergraduate and professional studies, Kanyeihamba was appointed a lecturer at Portsmouth College (now the University of Portsmouth). He later became a State Attorney with special responsibilities for teaching law to professional classes and London External Degree undergraduates at Nsamizi Law School in Entebbe, which later became the Law Development Center.
He also lectured in law at Lanchester Polytechnic (now Coventry University) and the University of Wales in Cardiff. Over the years, he has authored and co-authored several journal articles and books.
