High Court judge Lydia Mugambe Ssali is the new Inspector General of Government replacing the out-going I, Lady Justice Irene Mulyagonja, who has since been named a judge on the Court of Appeal.
Lady Justice Mugambe who is married to the UNRA spokesman, Mark Ssali, is one of Uganda’s progressive commercial and human rights judges. She has in her past practice handed out many rulings against human rights abusers and ordered for compensation of several victims.
Prior to her appointment by President Yoweri Museveni to the office of the Inspectorate of Government (IGG), Justice Mugambe served as a Magistrate in Uganda’s lower courts since May 15, 2013.
After graduating from Faculty of Law of Makerere University with a Bachelor of Laws, Justice Mugambe went to the bar (attained Diploma in Legal Practice) at Law Development Centre. She also holds a Master of Laws from the University of Pretoria in South Africa.
According to the Red pepper publications, Mugambe came into the limelight and rose to prominence in a 2012 ruling in the case of a missing baby from Mulago national referral hospital.
Justice Mugambe ruled that a public hospital’s negligence resulted in the disappearance of a couple’s baby. She awarded a couple Shs 85m after finding Mulago hospital culpable of negligence for their missing newborn.
The decision was praised for advancing the rights of women and was later shortlisted to win the Golden Gavel award.
Then High Court judge Lydia Mugambe Ssali issued an injunction against the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC) directive suspending 39 journalists in May 2019.
Over 39 journalists from 13 media houses were suspended by regulator over live broadcasts of Kyadondo East MP Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine arrest and protests.
UCC had earlier called for 13 radio and TV stations to suspend their news editors, producers and heads of programming over their coverage of Bobi Wine claiming it endangered national security.
Two activists petitioned the court on behalf of the Uganda Journalists Association (UJA) asking court to restrain the regulator for playing judge, jury and executioner.
In her ruling, Justice Mugambe wondered why a case of possible incitement of violence was reported to UCC instead of police.
“I am mindful of UCC regulatory mandate and national security at large, but this does not mean that the rights of citizens have to be violated. Its threats have to be demonstrated. The application is allowed and injunction ordered against the respondent (the UCC),” Justice Mugambe affirmed.
She added: “I have to consider that the meeting of the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) on May 9, 2019, in which the two agreed that the 39 journalists step aside instead of being suspended, is merely an attempt to defeat justice on matters before the court. I, therefore, find that there is a status quo to be maintained.”
