Retired Ugandan Chief Justice Alfonse Chigamoy Owiny Dollo has asked for forgiveness from anyone he may have offended unknowingly while he served as the country’s highest judicial officer for five years.
In a statement released by the judiciary on Friday, Emeritus Chief Justice Owiny Dollo asked for forgiveness from anyone he may have wronged unknowingly and reflected that “the future is bigger than today and bigger than yesterday”.
Owiny Dollo further noted that that his greatest professional satisfaction came from judgment writing, explaining that administrative responsibilities had limited the time he could dedicate to it, emphasising the guiding role of Supreme Court decisions for lower courts and undertook to complete his pending judicial work.
The Emeritus Chief Justice made the remarks during a special luncheon to mark his retirement from active judicial service organised by Justices of the Supreme Court together with the Judicial and non-judicial staff of the Supreme Court on Thursday at the Supreme Court Building.
Owiny further thanked God for the privilege of leading the Judiciary of Uganda and the Supreme Court, describing his colleagues as sisters and brothers with whom he had greatly enjoyed working.
As he steps into retirement, Owiny revealed plans to establish an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) centre in Gulu and to continue championing mediation as a means of providing affordable justice as his part to serve humanity in his retirement.
Owiny further encouraged colleagues to learn both from his successes and from areas where he believed he could have done better as they continue to serve in the Judiciary.
Speaking on behalf of the Court, Lady Justice Lillian Tibatemwa-Ekirikubinza, the Court Administrator, said the luncheon was organised to celebrate the life and service of a cherished member of the Judiciary family.
She thanked God for the life of the Chief Justice Emeritus and observed that his retirement came at a time when he remained an important national figure.
Owiny-Dollo officially retired from office on January 18, 2026, upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 70.
His tenure as Chief Justice began in August 2020, and was marked by efforts to promote judicial discipline, reforms, and collegiality within the judiciary.
However, his term in office had a number of controversies especially from members of the opposition and even the judicial fraternity it’s self.
Owiny was heavily criticised over the handling of the 2021 presidential election petition challenging President Yoweri Museveni’s re-election in which the petitioner, National Unity Platform President and the party withdrew their petition citing alleged bias and procedural unfairness by the presiding judge.
The confiscation of Supreme Court Justice Esther Kisakye’s files containing her minority report on the March 18, 2021 presidential election petition, allegedly on Owiny Dollo’s orders before it could be read in court which led to a long strained relationship between between Justice Kisakye and Chief Justice Owiny Dollo
Justice Kisakye later on run to exile after her retirement in July 2023 citing threats to her life allegedly from the state.
In March 2022, Owiny Dollo face public outrage after he was accused of tribal insensitivity after he accused Baganda of protesting outside a hospital in Seattle, United States, where late Speaker of Parliament Jacob Oulanyah was admitted, demanding his return to Uganda for treatment
“Your ethnic leader was transported in a presidential jet to Germany using public funds he was not entitled to. You did not demonstrate. Is it because Oulanyah is an Acholi? Is it because Oulanyah does not speak your language?” Owiny Dollo said at the time.
Following the backlash, Owiny Dollo, accompanied by former Uganda People’s Congress president Olara Otunnu, met the Katikkiro of Buganda, Charles Peter Mayiga, at Bulange, Mengo, where he apologised for the remarks, including claims that the Kabaka had used a presidential jet for medical treatment abroad.
