Uganda’s judiciary entered a defining new chapter with the appointment of Justice Flavian Zeija as Chief Justice, crowning a career shaped by steady ascent, deep scholarship, and wide-ranging judicial experience.
President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni appointed Justice Zeija to the country’s highest judicial office, succeeding Chief Justice Aloysius R. A. Owiny-Dollo, who retired after attaining the mandatory retirement age. On Thursday, Parliament vetted and endorsed the 58-year-old jurist, clearing the way for him to assume leadership of the third arm of government.
For Justice Zeija, the appointment marked the culmination of nearly three decades in the law spanning private practice, academia, corporate legal work, and senior judicial leadership. Immediately before his elevation, he had served as Deputy Chief Justice of the Supreme Court since 7 February 2025, placing him at the centre of the judiciary’s apex decision-making.
His rise through the judicial ranks has been deliberate and methodical. In December 2019, Zeija was appointed Principal Judge of Uganda, the third-highest judicial office after the Chief Justice and Deputy Chief Justice. In that role, he supervised High Court judges, assigned judicial duties, and oversaw Magistrates Courts across the country, effectively managing the day-to-day engine of the justice system.
Born on 18 February 1969, Justice Zeija’s leadership journey began early. He attended St. Mary’s College Rushoroza, where he served as Head Prefect, before joining Makerere University in 1993. He graduated with a Bachelor of Laws degree in 1996 and completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practice at the Law Development Centre the following year.
His academic path reflected an enduring commitment to legal scholarship. Zeija earned a Master of Laws from Makerere University in 2002, followed by a PhD in Law from the University of Dar es Salaam in 2013.
He later added a Master of Business Administration from Uganda Martyrs University in 2018 and became a member of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators in the United Kingdom credentials that bridged law, governance, and management.
Before joining the bench, Zeija built a robust legal career in private practice and corporate law. He worked with Kwesigabo, Bamwine, Walubiri & Company Advocates, served as Manager Legal and Recovery at Tropical Africa Bank, and later as Legal Counsel at FINCA Uganda Limited. At the time of his judicial appointment, he was the Managing Partner at Zeija, Mukasa & Company Advocates.
He was appointed a Judge of the High Court of Uganda in 2016 and deployed as Resident Judge of the Mbarara High Court Circuit the largest in the country a posting that tested both his administrative skill and judicial temperament. Alongside his judicial duties, Zeija remained deeply involved in academia, lecturing at Uganda Christian University, Makerere University, and Makerere University Business School, where he was the founding head of the Department of Business Law.
On the bench, Justice Zeija earned a reputation for clear reasoning and doctrinal clarity. Among his most cited decisions is the September 2020 ruling in Kalemera H. Kimera vs Kabaka Muwenda Mutebi II, where he clarified Uganda’s inheritance law by holding that a grandchild not expressly named in a will cannot contest a grandparent’s estate a judgment that settled long-standing legal ambiguity.
A father of five, Justice Flavian Zeija now assumes leadership of Uganda’s judiciary at a time of heightened public scrutiny, reform debates, and calls for greater institutional trust.
His blend of academic rigor, administrative experience, and courtroom discipline places him at the centre of expectations for a judiciary seeking both independence and efficiency in a rapidly evolving legal landscape.
