By Frank Kamuntu
A Ugandan magistrate has been fired from the judicial service after he was arrested for disguising himself as a woman to write law exams for his girlfriend.
Ammaari Musa Semwogerere was appointed a Judicial Officer last month by the Judicial Service Commission to the position of Magistrate Grade One on probation.
Then on Wednesday last week, Semwogerere was found fraudulently sitting an examination for one of the bar course students identified as Irene Mutonyi, who is said to be his girlfriend, at the Law Development Centre in the northern city of Lira.
The magistrate was arrested and on Friday charged with two counts of uttering a false document and a count of impersonation.
The Judiciary issued a statement following the incident, saying Semwogerere’s new appointment has been terminated.
“The Judiciary would like to inform the general public that Mr Ssemwogerere Atnmaari Musa, one of the newly recruited Magistrates Grade I will not be employed into the Judiciary Service,” reads the statement dated July 28.
Chief Judiciary Registrar Sarah Langa Siu said among the core principles in the Code of Conduct for judicial officers is integrity, terming it a bedrock to the proper discharge of the judicial office.
Semwogerere was meanwhile remanded to prison until August 3.
Mr Semwogerere will not be employed into the Judiciary Service pic.twitter.com/44bUCHvDlQ
— Judiciary Uganda (@JudiciaryUG) July 28, 2023
