City Lawyer, Hassan Male Mabirizi have petitioned the chairperson of the Judicial Service Comission (JSC) seeking for Copies of all Documents relating to the entire ALL process of recruitment of Judicial Officers in respect to Advert No. 02 of 2022.
Mabirizi’ petition follows a controversial 4, April 2023, conducted Competence/Aptitude Test for Positions of Magistrate Grade 1 at Makerere University, Kampala.
“Pursuant to my citizenry duties under Paragraph XXIX(f) of Uganda Constitution’s National Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy which places a duty on me to promote Rule of Law, and Article 17(1)(d) places a duty on me to protect vulnerable persons against any form of abuse, harassment or ill-treatment; I write to notify you of the FRAUD SO that you NULLIFY/CANCEL/REPEAT the test in a FAIR & TRANSPARENT MANNER, Pursuant to Article 6(d) of The Treaty for Establishment of The East African Community, which, among others, requires Uganda as a Partner State to abide by principles Accountability, Transparency and Equal Opportunities,”the Petition reads in part..
Below is Counsel Mabirizi’ full petition..
CHAIRPERSON, JUDICIAL SERVICE COMMISSION, Kampala
REPEAT & ACCESS TO DETAILS OF COMPETENCE/APTITUDE TEST FOR MAGISTRATE GRADE 1 APPLICANTS IN RESPECT OF JOB ADVERT No. 02 OF 2022
1. On 4 April 2023, you conducted Competence/Aptitude Test for Positions of Magistrate Grade 1 at Makerere University Kampala in the MOST FRAUDULENT MANNER in that you organized four (4) shifts sitting one after the other, answering the same test in which you organized the shifts in such a way that those favoured by your commission attended the last shifts after knowing the questions which were in the test.
2. Pursuant to my citizenry duties under Paragraph XXIX(f) of Uganda Constitution’s National Objectives and Directive Principles of State Policy which places a duty on me to promote Rule of Law, and Article 17(1)(d) places a duty on me to protect vulnerable persons against any form of abuse, harassment or ill-treatment; I write to notify you of the FRAUD SO that you NULLIFY/CANCEL/REPEAT the test in a FAIR & TRANSPARENT MANNER, Pursuant to Article 6(d) of The Treaty for Establishment of The East African Community, which, among others, requires Uganda as a Partner State to abide by principles Accountability, Transparency and Equal Opportunities.
3. I am also proceeding under Article 41 of Uganda Constitution and The Access to Information Act, 2005 to request for Copies of ALL DOCUMENTS RELATING TO THE ENTIRE PROCESS OF RECRUITMENT OF JUDICIAL OFFICERS IN RESPECT TO ADVERT No. 02 of 2022.
MALE H. MABIRIZI K. KIWANUKA
Mabirizi’s Petition to the Chairperson Judicial Service Comission
Mabirizi’s petition came at a time when candidates who sat the aptitude test for Magistrate Grade 1 on April, 4, 2023 had also petitioned the Judicial Service Comission over irregularities of the aptitude test done at Makerere University.
According to letters seen by this website, candidates contend that there was clear and obvious cheating by 3rd and 4th shift of candidates for the aptitude test and the invigilators and supervisors of the exam did nothing at all to regulate this after the 1 and 2 shifts there was a complete mix up of candidates that had the test and those that had not done the test and this mix-up entailed discussion of answers of most of the exam numbers.
Whistle blowers [also Candidates]add that as there was no close supervision of the candidates in their respective shifts upon completing the competence tests, candidates in the last shifts had access to some candidates who sat in the morning hours and thereby obtained questions and appropriate answers hence leading to a disparity in the mark’s for the morning shifts and the last shifts to the advantage of the last shifts who scored highly than the morning shifts.
In their petitions, the learned further witnessed candidates in the last shifts exchange and discuss the same questions the morning shifts had done and unsurprisingly, some of those in the last shifts came out to testify how they had scored above 70 while in the 1st and 2nd shift a few had even scored 60 and above.
Creating competence test advert
Aggrieved candidates noted that they tried to bring this to the attention of the supervisors from Judicial service commission & Public Service Commission and were assured that the afternoon shifts would sit a different test, to our dismay and disappointment the test was 100% the same.
The events of the day followed candidates of the 1st shift that sat at 9:30am and completed by 10:10am then a few characters of the same shift started discussions and sharing notes with other shifts that sat their test latter until at 1:30pm that’s over 3 hours interaction and discussion.
Therefore, to achieve fairness to all candidates who did the competence tests. They invited the UJC to consider taking the following actions:
- Doing a comparative analysis of scores of the morning shifts and the last shifts.
- If convinced that there was likelihood of cheating or any malpractice by candidates in the last shifts to the disadvantage of the rest, to set different pass marks for the different shifts to ensure fairness to all.
Candidates participated in the exercise petitioned the JSC
Another petition to the JSC
Watch the space as we keep you posted
