07/29/2025
~ T.K Media UG
Bobi Wine
This afternoon in Buziga, we joined other citizens in saying farewell to the great Professor G. W. Kanyeihamba.
Uganda mourns not just the loss of a legal titan but the permanent silencing of a conscience that could not be bought, bent, or buried. Justice George Wilson Kanyeihamba was not only a man of the law but also a man of the truth. At a time when many judicial officers chose the comfort of complicity, he chose the narrow and rugged path of conviction. He believed in consultationalism and the rule of law with all his might and promoted them at great personal risk.
In the 2006 presidential election petition, Justice Kanyeihamba stood tall among his peers. He saw the fraud in the elections and ruled for the Constitution against the regime. For that, the regime turned on him, and the very institution he had helped shape, the judiciary, turned its back against him. He was sidelined and ostracised.
In light of the state push back against him, instead of retreating, Justice Kanyeihamba instead resisted with his pen and his voice. He exposed how the judiciary had become a shadow of its former self and how it had been converted into a tool of repression. He lamented the rise of judicial officers he labelled “cadre judges”, whose loyalty was to the appointing authority but not to those who appointed the appointing authority: the citizens. Yet even under isolation, Justice Kanyeihamba never lost his sense of right and wrong. Over and over again, he chose the truth even when it bled and cost him dearly. He taught us that integrity will always be a worthy sacrifice.
As we bid farewell to this great son of Uganda, we must commit ourselves to the path he charted. A path where justice is a right but not a favour. A path where speaking truth to power is not treason but duty.
The National Unity Platform has lost an invaluable friend and advisor. He gave us encouragement amidst great persecution. He was never shy to identify with us. At a time when many doubted us, Justice Kanyeihamba boldly donned our red-beret in solidarity with our cause for freedom and democracy.
We shall dearly miss you, Prof. Kanyeihamba. You may be gone, but your dissent echoes louder than the judgments of regime enablers in the judiciary. We hear you, we honour you, and we will always carry the torch forward. May your soul rest in peace.