Isaac Ssemakadde Profile picture
Feb 28, 2021 27 tweets 15 min read Read on X
This thread by a nostalgic, young & impressionable lawyer @SilverKayondo is a prime example of how not to whitewash the dead, and a good starting point to probe the phenomenon of a "successful, renowned & respectable lawyer" in post-colonial countries like Uganda. A counterthread
I am sure that many Ugandans, including @SilverKayondo, have never heard of the JOHARI Window — a pyschological model (see frame) that can help us gain much-needed clarity on our ever-changing world and the shadowy, shifty "winners" like Bob Kasango who are lionised by elites. ImageImage
If Bob was 'truly great' as claimed & his mentee & obituarist were truly honest as the public intellectual he pretends to be, Tweeps would have been offered a more accurate portrait of the deceased; not this cliché of an imperialist wannabe that CRASHED & BURNED in his own movie
It's no secret that Bob was an enigma, even to himself, until he was serially convicted and literally condemned to die in solitary confinement during a pandemic.

Yet @SilverKayondo exclusively tells us things in his mentor's ARENA — Bob's brains, panache & wheeler dealing. Why?
Why did @SilverKayondo evade Bob's FAÇADE, BLINDSPOT & UNKNOWN? I suspect it could be 'maalo' or confirmation bias.

As long as you get rich & bring an air of 'respectability' to the legal profession, then you will be one of their own, even from prison, and even when struck off. ImageImageImageImage
BLINDSPOT

@SilverKayondo's thread glorifies the petit bourgeois mindset which constituted Bob's blindspot and tragically led to his downfall.

Many lawyers in the post-colony share this mindset & therefore will have learnt nothing & forgotten nothing from Bob's escapades. ImageImageImageImage
@SilverKayondo's ballad for his mentor is eerily reminiscent of the tragic story of Icarus in Greek mythology.

Icarus and his father Daedalus were imprisoned on an island by the King.

To escape, Daedalus – a master craftsman – created 2 sets of wings made of wax and feathers. Image
"INITIAL CONDITIONS"

Daedalus warned his son not to fly too close to the sun, as the wax would melt; and not to fly too low, as the feathers could get wet in the sea.

But these warnings went unheeded, as Icarus was so excited by the experience of flight that he went higher...
As the wax in his wings melted, Icarus tumbled into the sea and drowned.

The saying "don't fly too close to the sun" refers to Icarus' recklessness and defiance of limitations.

And just like Icarus, our "high-flyer" Bob Kasango also failed to escape from the prison island. ImageImage
The "initial conditions" Bob Kasango sought to pass on to his apprentice were fatally flawed.

Flying your PC (practicing certificate) too close to the sun has felled many lawyers who planned grandly but failed miserably by overestimating their knowledge, foresight & ability. ImageImage
The Icarus syndrome, with its signature lack of humility, is a pattern that every lawyer with a PC needs to be concerned about.

Legal practice is premised on the idea of the State, and free citizens. But 60 yrs after "Independence", we are still natives, trapped in a neocolony. ImageImage
Where the State is a product of criminality and abuse, which is the case with all ex-colonies, then the practice of law is basically dependent on a rotten & rigged system, and an unjust base.

The native lawyer is trapped in a neocolony that imposes neoliberal policies "legally".
IN THE POSTCOLONY

Privatisation, retrenchment, stealing of our land & resources, selling of our youths into slavery in Arabia, etc are all done within the sanction of the Law.

And many unlawful things aren't stopped by the law authorities.

Law & Justice are not the same thing. ImageImageImageImage
And so while eulogizing Bob Kasango — an unemployed fifty-year-old has-been, disbarred from the legal profession in 2017 & disgraced by multiple fraud convictions, it must be asked:

"In a postcolonial situation, what is the best use of law, or what can a lawyer best do with it?" Image
Before closing the chapter on Bob "Icarus" Kasango, let us re-examine the factors influencing public perception of the reputation, popularity & performance of lawyers on the Postcolony.

What should be the correct method of assessing who is or was a "good" lawyer, and who's not? Image
Who's a Good Lawyer, and Who's Not?

Is it the clique of @NRMOnline sycophants & surrogates who carry water for the Dictator?

Or, fabled fixers like Bob Kasango, whose "expertise" was in gaming the system, and working the legal levers for the sake of primitive accumulation? Image
FAÇADE

To be fair, Bob Kasango was not a pariah at the Bar.

Even after courts & Law Council Disciplinary Committee had pulled off his mask, he remained a media darling; a favourite of many in legal & political-military elite circles, idolised & mystified as the boy wonder "Q". Credit: Abu Lubowa
It is an ironic, poetic ending to the deceitful life & career of Robert Aldridge Kasango alias Bob alias Okello alias Q that, even in death, this conman was misleadingly enabled to hold out as an "Advocate" & "learned brother" by none other than @ug_lawsociety prez @PheonaWall. ImageImage
The upshot of it all is that many lawyers are miserably & permanently trapped in a pandemic of petty buorgeois expectations, attitudes & prejudices, and the hard mask of professional ethics gave away to primitive accumulation of capital by indulging in land grabs, corruption, etc
MASK OFF!

In his ballad for Bob Kasango, @SilverKayondo brags, with impish glee, about the "initial conditions to become a world-class lawyer" inculcated by his mentor.

He was describing a businessman doing business, not somebody contributing to jurisprudential knowledge. Image
And in that sense, Kasango was right & logical.

He was initiating his apprentice into becoming a comprador, by affirming the "right" of the neocolony to continue enforcing our oppression.

He was "logical" to seek to personalize the theft that the neocolony carries out on us.
His problem was to get caught.

But many lawyers defend theft & impoverishment, and take advantage of others on the daily.

They help write contracts and go to court in aid of multinationals & shady investors seeking to evict our people, or defend the introduction of #GMO seeds. Image
KASANGOISM: "Successful, renowned city lawyers" constantly hustle foreigners for gigs & A-list ratings & indulge in primitive accumulation by supporting land grabs, grand corruption, counterfeiting, etc & are less preoccupied with the delivery of actual justice on the Postcolony. ImageImageImage
@ug_lawsociety elites see themselves in the same boat as Bob "Q" Kasango. They're different only bcoz they are yet to be caught & unmasked!

Like Q, they see Law as Strictly Business— "with no deal too far", and the PC & @LDCUganda diploma their version of @KCCAUG trading licence
THE UNKNOWN

It's difficult to know why, despite being born into a humble family from Tororo and trained as a lawyer on state subsidy, the "accomplished lawyer" Bob Kasango displayed much contempt for his roots, ordinary people & the institutions that had put their trust in him. Image
Even less clear is why Kasango carried out all the scams for which he was convicted & disbarred, or what he did with the stolen money.

One would have thought that he had amassed more than enough money to support his lifestyle and his family's lifestyle.

kfm.co.ug/news/city-lawy…
Even in death, Bob Kasango almost got away with it!

In lamenting his death, @ug_lawsociety prez @PheonaWall dodged the fact that he had discredited his profession by getting convicted for fraud. She didn't even lament the pain & loss he'd inflicted on humble pensioners & others. Image

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More from @IsaacSsemakadde

May 23
REBELS: Enough is enough!

Where is your anguish at this Tuesday's outcome of the 2nd bail application for the Katanga widow (inset)?

Why do magistrates & high court judges flout Superior Court orders exhorting them to be liberal💯 in granting bail when custody is not needed?🧵 Image
Last month, I reached out to @KAAdvocates—defence lawyers for Ms Molly Katanga, 55—seeking permission to raise the alarm before their client's 2nd bail application suffered the same fate as the 1st one.

Upon further reflection, I decided to exercise self-restraint. Not anymore!
@UGIndependent quoted Judge Isaac Muwata thus: "The case is ready for hearing. I find that the application cannot be granted and is dismissed on grounds that the circumstances have not changed since the first bail application."

We respectfully disagree. independent.co.ug/katanga-murder…
Read 10 tweets
Jun 24, 2023
WEEKEND COURT

Family Division Cause 41/2023
Before Justice Keturah Katunguka

THE ISSUE—Whether to bury Justice Stella Arach-Amoko (RIP) in Nebbi or Adjumani?

#TeamNebbi—Adv Richard Adubango, Roger Mugabi, @PiusBusobozi & @SOkecho

#TeamAdjumani— @AFMpangaUG & @OrtusAdvocates
We are supposed to be starting in a few minutes, after a brief break granted to #TeamNebbi to complete an overnight filing assignment that happens to have spilled over.
Meanwhile before the break Adv @SPKinobe2018 of #TeamAdjumani informed court that “mediation had failed.”

We’ve established that in response to the “Arua middle ground” proposal, #TeamNebbi this morning offered the following “counterproposal” which was rejected by #TeamAdjumani.
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Jun 23, 2023
‘A Tale of Two Submersibles’

It was the best of times,
It was the worst of times.

It was the age of wisdom,
It was the age of foolishness.

It was the epoch of belief,
It was the epoch of incredulity.

It was the season of Light,
It was the season of Darkness.
It was the spring of hope,
It was the winter of despair.

We had everything before us,
We had nothing before us.
Read 5 tweets
May 15, 2023
Do #UOT EXHIBITIONS really make a difference?🧵

The annoyance of petty bourgeois Ugandans regarding #KampalaPotholeExhibition & #UgandaHealthExhibition, as curated by our brilliant social justice warriors @SpireJim & @GodwinTOKO, has amused me more than it should probably have. Image
At @mylegalbrain, we did more than put on an exhibit around Kampala’s gargantuan potholes & open sewers 3 years ago.

We SUED @KCCAUG & @GovUganda for this blatant violation of duty that has caused widespread devastation, including death and disability to hapless urban dwellers.
B4 #KampalaPotholeExhibition, we’d sued The Powers That Be & won a landmark ruling for a hazard-free road experience in Kampala City.

COURT ORDER—There shouldn’t be any potholes, open sewers & trading/dwelling places cut off by floods in the capital city.
observer.ug/news/headlines…
Read 22 tweets
Jan 31, 2023
SIBLINGS shouldn’t let their tiffs & biffs spill over into the family business, if they’re lucky to have one.

Let me thread 🧵 you the tragic story of the Hanspal family that lost a fortune while fighting over the contract to construct @nssfug HQ, Workers’ House.
📸 @mudo_eve
The Hanspals used to be mega rich some forty years ago.

They had made their name, mostly in Dictator Daniel Arap Moi’s Kenya🇰🇪 , by delivering high-end construction assignments on time, for East Africa’s political & corporate elites of the day.
Davinder Hanspal became the face of that success.

He was the managing director of ALCON INTERNATIONAL LTD, a Kenyan superbrand in its heyday.

This guy was so good at his game that anyone who used the name ALCON could literally get away with murder anyway in East Africa.
Read 25 tweets
Dec 17, 2022
UPDATE: “TO CATCH A LIAR” in the dramatic saga of “HOW TO GET AWAY WITH CORRUPTION”@ODPPUGANDA

Jane Frances #Akokolan #Abodo is a LIAR and CHARLATAN who spent the week lying about her sweetheart deal with the #corrupt Basajjabalaba brothers.

How did we catch her in the act?🧵
In this thread, #LegalRebel #Atanaaba will take you on a deep dive into the “CERTIFIED RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS” in the Basajjabalaba #corruption case, to expose the most embarrassing lie told by #FakeDPP #Akokolan #Abodo this week—as reported by both @newvisionwire & @DailyMonitor.
In December 2022, under pressure to bury the most stinging scandal of her career, #FakeDPP #Akokolan #Abodo claims that “investigations were still going on” when the Constitutional Court halted the Basajja case on 8 May 2013, as reported on #ULII. NOT TRUE.ulii.org/ug/judgment/su…
Read 8 tweets

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