Who is George Wilson Kanyeihamba?: Flash Uganda Media looks at his biography, age, death, family, wife, work and experience, political career, early life and education of the former retired Ugandan Supreme Court judge.
George Kanyeihamba also known as George Wilson Kanyeihamba was a Ugandan writer, retired Supreme Court judge, former cabinet minister and Member of Parliament.
He was also the chairperson of the legal committee of the Constituent Assembly that drafted the 1995 Constitution.
Kanyeihamba has previously held the positions of attorney general, minister of justice, and minister of trade in the Ugandan Parliament.
Early Life
George W. Kanyeihamba was born on August 11, 1939, in Kinaba, Kinkizi District, Kigezi Region to Zakaliya Bafwokworora (father) and Kyenda Malyamu Kyakundwa (mother).
He is the eleventh and last-born child in the family.
Education Background
Kanyeihamba attended Hamurwa Church School, Nyaruhanga Anglican Church Primary School, Nyakatare Church School, Kigezi High School, Busoga College Mwiri, and Norwich City College.
He received his bachelor’s degree in law from Portsmouth University.
He graduated from the University of Warwick with a PhD in law in the United Kingdom during the 1970s. Warwick granted him an honorary LLD in 2008.
Education background summary
| Years | Institution | Status /Award |
| Nyaruhanga Anglican Primary School | PLE | |
| Busoga College Mwiri | UCE | |
| Norwich City College | UACE | |
| Portsmouth University | Bachelor’s degree in law | |
| 1970s | University of Warwick | PhD in Law degree |
| 2008 | University of Warwick | Honorary LLD |
Marriage / Relationship
George Kanyeihamba is married to Susan Kanyeihamba and the couple has three children; Ruth, Joel, Sarah and Betty, an adopted daughter.
Career and Professional Work Experience
After completing his undergraduate and professional studies, Kanyeihamba was hired as a Lecturer at Portsmouth College, which is now the University of Portsmouth
Later, at the Nsamizi Law School in Entebbe, which subsequently became the Law Development Center, he was appointed State Attorney with particular responsibility for teaching law to professional classes and undergraduates pursuing London External Degrees.
He was a law lecturer at the University of Wales in Cardiff as well as Lanchester Polytechnic, which is now Coventry University.
George Kanyeihamba also served as chancellor of Kabale University and Kampala International University.
He was admitted to the Ugandan Supreme Court in 1997 and left the position in November 2009.
In 2006, George was chosen to serve as a two-year judge on the African Court.
Work experience background summary
| Year | Institution | Position |
| University of Portsmouth (Portsmouth College) | Lecturer | |
| Law Development Center (Nsamizi Law School) | State Attorney | |
| University of Wales in Cardiff | Law lecturer | |
| Coventry University (Lanchester Polytechnic) | Law lecturer | |
| Kabale University | Chancellor | |
| Kampala International University | Chancellor | |
| 1997 – 2009 | Uganda Judiciary | Supreme Court Judge |
| 2006 – 2007 | African Court | Judge |
Other Career Accomplishments
George Kanyeihamba also occupies the following positions and plays the following roles:
Participant in the Human Rights Initiative Foundation
Legal Advisor to the President of Uganda on International Affairs and Human Rights; Chairman, Committee on Judges’ Terms and Conditions of Service
Chairman of the Constituent Assembly’s Legal and Drafting Committee; Chairman, of Kabale University Board of Trustees
Chair of the Distinguished Commonwealth Judicial Experts Advisory Panel of the International Commission of Jurists.
Furthermore, he represented the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) and the Organization of African Unity (OAU) at the Special Meeting of Government and Non-Government Experts on International Refugee Law.
He has written various books and journal papers both alone and with others, to give a few examples;
Articles
The Dilemma of the Court of Appeal for East Africa: Legalism and Politics in East Africa was published in January 1973 in Transition No. 43, pages 43–54.
East African laws about urban planning With particular regard to Uganda, Progress and Planning, volume 2, pages 1-83, January 1973.
January 1974 saw the publication of Law in Urban Planning and Development in East Africa. Doctoral thesis, University of Warwick.
East African urban planning law was published in Progress in Planning, issue 2, pages 1-83, in December 1974.
The Law Teacher, volume 11, number 1, January 1977, book reviews and remarks. The May 1987 issue of Refuge: Canada’s Journal on Refugees, volume 6, number 4, featured an article titled Improving the Standards of Human Rights and Refugee Protection in Africa.
Publication date: June 1980; issue 4, number 2, pages 239–266; International Journal of Urban and Regional Research: The impact of received law on planning and development in Anglophonic Africa.
Books
Uganda’s Constitutional Law and Governance: Ugandan Constitutionalism’s Theory and Application Publications by East African Literature Bureau, 1975; includes the Government and Local Administrations, the Citizen and the State, Administrative Law, the East African Community, and the Commonwealth.
Thoughts on Uganda’s Muslim Leadership Question. published in 1998 by Fountain Publishers.
Thoughts on Law, Politics, and Governance by Kanyeihamba. 2006 edition published by Law Africa.
Uganda’s Political and Constitutional History, 1894–present. Published by Law Africa in 2010.
The Pleasure and Blessings of Being Your True Self. Published by Marianum Press Ltd. in 2012.
The Blessing and Joy of Being Who You Are
Kanyeihamba’s Commentaries on Law, Politics and Governance
Case Book on Lawyers, and Ethics, Professional Charges
Achievements and Awards
Dr. George W. Kanyeihamba, a professor of justice, is a preeminent authority on constitutional and human rights law in Uganda. He has been repeatedly hailed for laying a foundational stone in the Judiciary and politics of Uganda.
In 2017, he was given a lifetime achievement award during the Native Book Awards ceremony that was held at MacKinnon Suites, Kampala.
Kanyeihamba played a key role in the establishment of Kabale University, a community college that was eventually turned up to the government.
He has participated in multiple fact-finding trips to nations like Swaziland and Kenya on behalf of the International Commission of Jurists and the Commonwealth Secretariat.
Death
Retired Supreme Court Justice and renowned legal scholar George William Kanyeihamba has died at the age of 85. He passed away in Kampala on Monday following a long illness.
Justice Kanyeihamba had been receiving treatment in the Intensive Care Unit at Nakasero Hospital, where he had been admitted since early July. He had struggled with health complications for nearly a decade.
Further details about funeral arrangements are expected to be announced by his family.
Controversies
Prof. Kanyeihamba was sued by Supreme Court Judge Dr Ester Kisakye for defamation. The suit, filed before the Civil Division of the High Court was based on the contents of a letter contained in Kanyeihamba’s book titled; “IN THE NAME OF GOD TRUTH AND JUSTICE” in February 2020.
The book reportedly contained a defamatory letter authored by the retired judge who was reportedly complaining about Dr Kisakye’s academic qualifications, judicial conduct and corruption.
The letter, to the then Chief Justice Bart Katureebe, also indicated that Kisakye was always dissenting judgments that would affect the Executive arm of government.
Prof Kanyeihamba once dragged a psychiatrist to court for diagnosing him with dementia.
The medical report that indicated Kanyeihamba was “suffering from dementia” was authored by Professor Sseggane Musisi, a senior consultant psychiatrist, aided by Dr Paul Bangirana of Nakasero Hospital which was later confirmed untrue.
As one of the three justices of the Supreme Court, Kanyeihamba declared that President Museveni’s 2006 re-election was so blatantly rigged as to be voidable.
This allegedly caused him to lose his job as judge of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights.
He has also criticized the Ugandan government for allowing armed individuals to break into the High Court of Uganda’s facilities to reclaim treason suspects whom the court had previously granted bail for. Subsequently, the Constitutional Court declared the invasion of the court grounds to be unlawful.
