By Jeremiah Aminu
The Uganda Law Society (ULS) has criticised the unjust treatment of Marshall Abubakar, Sowore’s lead defence counsel, by Justice Mohammed Umar who ordered him to kneel during a court proceeding.
In a letter, dated 18th March 2026 and signed by the society’s President, Isaac Ssemakadde, he condemned Umar’s action and emphasised that no judge has the right to order a fellow legal practitioner to engage in such a demeaning act.
“No judge possesses the lawful power to order a legal practitioner to kneel. That directive by Justice Mohammed Umar was not discipline; it was humiliation,” he said.
Acknowledging the response and criticism of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) concerning the humiliating incident, Ssemakadde noted that Umar’s misconduct portrayed a violation of judicial tenets and authority, including the rule of law.
“The NBA has spoken clearly and correctly: such conduct violates every tenet of due process, professional dignity, and the rule of law. We stand with you, shoulder to shoulder”, he added.
He proceeded by stating that the incident reflected a lingering issue of colonial legacy across African countries whose models of governance mirror the same oppressive style of operation that characterised colonialism.
“This is not a Nigerian aberration. It is a continental epidemic…From Kampala to Nairobi, Accra to Freetown, we witness the same pattern: arrogant benches, bullying rhetoric, forced genuflection disguised as decorum…Colonial humiliation did not end with the flag; it merely changed costume”, he remarked.
Ssemakadde added that such misconduct posed a threat to the integrity, prestige, and progression of the justice system.
“When a judge compels an advocate to kneel before the Court, he does not merely bruise one lawyer’s pride; he wounds the entire profession, chills fearless advocacy, and signals…that justice is dispensed by fear, not reason”, he said.
To stem this problem, Ssemakadde recommended the installation of cameras in the courtroom, judicial ethics training, and the dissolution of laws criminalising criticism of the judiciary. He further stated that:
“We must reject the bygone cult of performative civility…and embrace functional professionalism that recognises robust dissent as an ethical imperative, not an insult”.
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According to him, the “temple of journalism must never again demand genuflection”. Instead, “it must demand courage”.
