OBITUARY: Court of Appeal Justice Kenneth Kakuru has passed on at the age of 65 at Aga Khan hospital in Nairobi, Kenya.
News reports indicate that Justice Kakuru was rushed to Nairobi in a critical condition with his family and Judiciary fearing for his life.
The out spoken Judge died on Tuesday morning, March 7 2023, after a protracted with stage four 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.
“I declare that the entire constitutional amendment Act 1of 2018 is unconstitutional and therefore null and void. All its provisions ought to be expunged from the Constitution”– Justice Kenneth Kakuru ruled
Background
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. He also held a Master of Arts (MA) degree in Educational Policy Planning and Development, awarded by Kyambogo University
Kakuru was 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 and at the time of his death still served as a non-executive director of Greenwatch Uganda, an environmental advocacy non-profit.
He was a member of the Uganda Law Society, the East African Law Society, the Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide and the International Bar Association. He was also an associate professor at the Uganda Pentecostal University, based in Fort Portal, Kabarole District. He was also an external examiner at the Law Development Center.
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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