This morning, I had the honor of delivering a keynote address to members of the Uganda Law Society and the public at large reflecting upon the role of lawyers in promoting social justice through upholding human rights and electoral integrity. I spoke about my childhood dream of being a lawyer – which I only achieved last year in my 40s after getting the time and means I never had in my childhood. Reflecting upon this, I emphasized that the State must take its role of subsidizing life for its citizens very seriously as that ensures that they all have the opportunity to live meaningful and fulfilled lives. I condemned the judicial cowardice masked as "legal doctrine" behind which judicial officers have since independence repeatedly hidden to sanitize and legitimize military dictatorship, fraudulent elections and human rights abuses. I specifically critiqued the so-called 'Political Question Doctrine,' and the 'Substantiality Test' upon which the Supreme Court has on numerous ocassions relied to dismiss mind-bending evidence of vote rigging and electoral violence against dictator Museveni. Even when the judges know that any single act of rigging, however big or small, was done precisely to alter the final result; even when they know that no one rigs an election for the sake of rigging it but to win it; and even when they know that State-led electoral malpractice undermines the credibility of the entire process and result, they still go ahead to say it was not "substantial". In other words, they would rather feel ‘safe’ than uphold their judicial oath. We must build a country where law serves the people, not power. Lawyers, by their training and knowledge alone, must play a central role in achieving this objective because their inaction amidst oppression makes them complicit. No one is ever safe in a lawless nation and we have the example of none other than former Chief Justice Ben Kiwanuka to demonstrate that. The struggle continues! #ProtestVoteUg2026