Dr Suleiman Kiggundu, the former governor of the central bank and managing director of the defunct Greenland bank, died without telling his story. By then, he had become a fierce politician who perched in car windows to preach 'good governance' to whoever cared.
This was a dramatic departure from the bespectacled gentleman who wore immaculate pinstriped suits and rubbed shoulders with the high and mighty of the world.
From the air-conditioned boardrooms of financial institutions to Luzira prison, the public would have wanted to know what he thought was his undoing, what mistakes he made, and injustices suffered, if any. But it was never to be.
Former attorney general and minister of justice, Abu Mayanja, an engaging debater, too died without recording his life into a book. Former speaker of Parliament, the amiable James Wapakhabulo, too didn't write a book! The list of such people is annoyingly long.
However, former chief justice Samuel Wako Wambuzi has decided to be different. His book, The odyssey of a judicial career in precarious times: My trials and triumphs as three-time chief justice of Uganda, was launched at Serena hotel by former premier Apolo Nsibambi last Friday.
This book is not only Wambuzi's life but it also takes the reader through his forty-something year journey, serving as a prosecutor, acting director of public prosecutions (DPP), judge of the High court, chief justice of Uganda, president of the East African Court of Appeal, and then chief justice of Uganda.
From a Kaliro village boy whose feet soles were gnawed on by kitchen rats to a super swimmer but who would not dare President Idi Amin into a swimming contest at Kampala club. Wambuzi was born on January 23, 1931 at Namalemba, in the present-day Kamuli district. His mother, Milyamu Naigaga, died a year after he was born, leaving the young Wambuzi to be raised by his stepmother.
At 84, Wambuzi retains his humour, sharp memory of a judge, reliving events, and principles as if they happened yesterday. His humour is effortless and it's draped in concealed sarcasm. Read more
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