The Registrar General of Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB) Mercy Kainobwisho’s name has been proposed among candidates suitable to take over Ministry of Justice & Constitutional Affairs, that the President intentionally left vacant.
Ms Kainobwisho took over the helm of URSB from Bemanya Twebaze who was last year elected Director General African Intellectual Property Organisation.
She has since steered the organization in a very stable conduct against the sore word of naysayers.
Bemanya sits in Harare, Zimbabwe and heads the Africa Regional Intellectual property Organisation (ARIPO).
Ever since her takeover, Kainobwisho has done tremendous work at URSB in her first 100 days in office.
Recently, at a breakfast meeting with Journalists, Ms. Kainobwisho listed her achievements over her stay at the helm of the organization impressing the scribes who describe her tenure as ‘visionary’.
A reliable source in State House revealed to this website that President Yoweri Museveni has so far been impressed by the dedication and potential Kainobwisho has exhibited while in office.
“The President wondered why Mercy Kainobwisho has for long not been appointed a judge yet she has full knowledge of the law,” a source said.
‘I have always struggled to get reputable Judges yet we have young vibrant women like compatriot’s daughter here’ Museveni told guests during URSB’s launch of the National Intellectual Property Policy & the Security Interest in Movable Property Registry (SIMPO) in September 2020.
We have also learnt that the President asked his security to vet potential names as he sources a right candidate to occupy the Ministry of Justice & Constitutional Affairs that holds a strategic position in Government.
The incumbent Minister Prof. Ephraim Kamuntu has since been dropped in the new cabinet announced on Tuesday night by the President. Sources say the aging former Minster will be appointed as a Special Presidential Assistant in charge of Manifesto Implementation.
The post of Justice Minister which has remained unoccupied has caused a lot of public speculation with some intimating that the President could have left it vacant for a ‘special cadre’ for which Ms. Kainobwisho is being sought.
This vibrant lawyer who heads URSB is being considered. But for now we can’t conclude who will notch the slot,” a source in State House said.
Our source added that, Museveni who kept changing the cabinet especially with a local daily speculating on who would make the list leaking. The President last evening shocked the nation, erased a name of a high-ranking NRM official who had been made Justice Minister.
This official who is very conversant with the legal field lost the 2021 elections in January.
This website understands that security has so far vetted 3 names of candidates for Minister of Justice & Constitutional Affairs.
When contacted Ms. Kainobwisho told this website that she had no idea, neither has she been contacted by State House over the same.
“I am not aware. No one has reached out to me,” she said before ending our call.
However, reliable sources close to the Presidency intimates that the President is so far impressed with the young lawyer’s steady progress in her career and believes she would be a strong addition to cabinet, especially to the ministry that decides on the legal path of the national aspirations.
