New Attorney General Sam Mayanja vows to ‘bulldoze’ Judiciary; wants temporary judges appointed to clear backlog

Uganda's new Attorney General, Dr Sam Mayanja, has signalled an activist approach to his new role, declaring himself a "bulldozer" and challenging the Judiciary to find new ways of clearing its growing case backlog.

Speaking on Wednesday shortly after taking office, replacing Kiryowa Kiwanuka, Mayanja said that the Judiciary can no longer blame poor working conditions, low pay or a shortage of judges for delays in handling cases.

“I am a bulldozer of some sorts and I always want to change things wherever I go. I just assumed office today as the Attorney General and I believe there must be things there which are cracking people’s heads,” Mayanja said.

He noted that government has improved judges' salaries, retirement benefits and working conditions over the years. He said the number of judicial officers has also increased, yet thousands of cases remain unresolved.

“The song of the Judiciary was that they don’t have enough judges; they don’t have a good retirement package and the premises they operate in are not good” he said.

“But the government under president Yoweri Museveni has improved the package to the extent that in the whole of Africa, Ugandan judges are the best paid; and when they retire, they go with three quarters of their current emoluments up to the time of their departure from this world."

Mayanja cited recent remarks by Chief Justice Flavian Zeija, who revealed that land-related disputes alone could take years to clear because of the backlog.

To address this, Mayanja is proposing that the Judiciary recruit experienced lawyers from private practice to serve as temporary judges for a fixed period.

“The law provides that where such a situation exists, the Chief Justice can turn to the bar and enlist new judges. He can for instance appoint 30 lawyers to act as judges for one year, then finish all the cases and go back to the bar,” he said.

The arrangement, he said, would help clear pending cases without permanently expanding the Judiciary's payroll.

“The Judiciary will remain with its lean staff, and the government will not have to buy cars, provide bodyguards and all those perks that come with new judges,” he added.

Mayanja has built a reputation as one of the most outspoken and unconventional figures in President Yoweri Museveni's government.

Before his appointment as Attorney General, Mayanja served as State Minister for Lands, where he frequently made headlines for direct interventions in land disputes. 

He often travelled to contested areas, issued directives on ownership disputes and publicly challenged powerful interests.

His tenure was marked by several controversies, particularly his clashes with the Buganda Kingdom over land ownership and administration. Mayanja questioned the role of the Buganda Land Board, challenged the kingdom's claims over disputed land and called for reforms to the mailo land system, positions that drew strong criticism from Buganda officials and lawmakers from the region. 

In 2025, he sparked a major row after questioning the Kabaka's ownership of the disputed Kaazi land and directing changes to land records, prompting the Buganda Kingdom to threaten legal action against him. 

Mayanja has also been a vocal critic of some agreements between the central government and the Buganda Kingdom and has repeatedly called for changes to historical land arrangements in Buganda. 

His latest remarks suggest he intends to bring the same confrontational style to the Attorney General's chambers as he seeks solutions to some of government's long-standing legal and institutional challenges.