Speaker Among mourns "exemplary jurist" Amoko

Speaker of Parliament Anita Annet Among has led Members of Parliament in mourning the fallen Justice of the Supreme Court, Stella Arach Amoko, who passed away on Saturday morning. 

Among described the fallen judge as an exemplary jurist who served her country and the region with utmost dedication and professionalism.   

“It is with deep sadness that I received the news of the demise of Lady Justice Stella Arach Amoko of the Supreme Court. In her long career from the Attorney General’s Chambers to the bench, she was an exemplary jurist who served her country and the region with utmost dedication and professionalism,” she said in a Saturday tweet. 

The Speaker said Amoko leaves behind a solid legacy on the bench and that she was an inspiration to the girl child. 

“On behalf of the Parliament of Uganda and on my behalf, I send sincere condolences to her family, the Judiciary, and the legal fraternity. May her soul Rest in Peace,” Among said. 

Justice Amoko who was 69, breathed her last at around 4:00 am on Saturday at Nakasero Hospital in Kampala. By press time the cause of death had not been revealed. 

Deputy Chief Justice Richard Buteera said the Judiciary has lost an extraordinary jurist who has been a champion of justice. 

In her career, Amoko handled many election cases. In 2006, she dismissed the petition in which National Resistance Movement’s Francis Babu had challenged Erias Lukwago’s victory as Member of Parliament for Kampala Central Division. 

In 2012, at the Court of Appeal, she wrote the majority opinion that nullified NRM’s Faisal Kikulukunyu's victory as the MP for Butambala County. The ruling benefited Muhammad Muwanga Kivumbi of the Democratic Party. 

She was also among the nine justices of the Supreme Court who dismissed petitions by former independent candidate, Amama Mbabazi, Forum for Democratic Change’s Kizza Besigye and National Unity Platform’s Robert Kyagulanyi, seeking to nullify President Museveni’s re-election.