Principal Judge Justice Dr. Flavian Zeija has appointed Justice Dr. Andrew Bashaija as an alternate judge in the ongoing trial of former Lord’s Resistance Army-LRA rebel commander Thomas Kwoyelo alias Latoni at the International Crimes Division-ICD of the High Court.
According to the ICD Deputy Registrar Stella Beatrice Atingu, Justice Bashaija who also heads the International Crimes Division of the High Court was appointed a month ago.
The appointment was announced by Justice Michael Elubu during the resumption of Kwoyelo’s trial hearing at the ICD sitting at Gulu High Court in Gulu City on Monday.
“I think it is important that we also take note for the record that we have been joined by an alternate Judge, Hon. Justice Bashaija now stepping in as an alternate Judge in this panel,” Justice Elubu told Court.
He further noted that the law requires for purposes of prudence the panel to have an extra judge sitting on the quorum so that they proceed without any challenges in the event that one of the judges is not available.
Justice Bashaija now joins the panel of three other judges presiding over Kwoyelo’s case at the ICD. They include Justices Michael Elubu, Duncan Gasgwaga, and Stephen Mubiru.
His appointment follows the retirement of Justice Persis Kigundu, one of the judges who had been presiding over the case. He started working on Monday with the resumption of the trial hearing of Kwoyelo at the ICD sitting at Gulu High Court.
The trial hearing of Kwoyelo will take three weeks. Kwoyelo, a former colonel in the LRA rebel outfit has been in custody for thirteen years since his capture in March 2009 in Garamba National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) by the Uganda People’s Defence Forces-UPDF.
