Prof. Ngasirwa Patrick's Inaugural lecture 2046

There are few things one gets to achieve in their academic journey and an inaugural professorial lecture is one of those. The fact that each year is graced by one such lecture or at times none explains the difficulty with which it comes. I was lucky to finally have mine.

So this Monday afternoon 07/05/2046, I was set to deliver an inaugural professorial lecture at the University state of the art main hall. The preparations were in full gear and word had already made rounds that the great law don would finally be achieving full status of Professor. Beauty and The Law was the subject I had chosen to deliver on and had spent a pain staking 6 months preparing for this.
Fast forward the day had stealthily arrived with me hardly noticing. Eminent and distinguished people were expected to grace this particular occasion. At about 1:45pm students and invited guests started trickling in with many in high spirits. Members of the legal fraternity came in one at a time, those from other faculties also wanted to be part of this historic event. Different media houses had set camp at the place among others being France 24, BBC, CNN. At that point I noticed two prominent figures alight from the latest model of the Range Rover Sport. It was Justice Conrad Kimbugwe together with Justice Mark Mutambo who had both been recently appointed to the Supreme court and had handled the recently concluded presidential petition. We exchanged a few pleasantries and joked about the Amicus Curiae application they had rejected of which I was lead petitioner. Before long they were led to their seats, as more guests arrived at their convenience. Dr Sekamwa Rodgers who had just completed his PHD at Cambridge  university was up and about trying to make sure everything was going as planned, working closely with Prof Kangye Stanley who was chairperson steering committee for the event. I had also noticed as I stood at the entrance that Counsel Busobozi Wycliffe who was counsel in the Amicus application had entered through the other door and seemed not in mood to share any greetings with the justices of the Supreme court, I suspect because they had rejected his submissions in the application. He instead chose to seat next to Steven Nuwagira, a man who life had not been fair to. Steven had made many unsuccessful attempts at various political positions but to no avail. Ever since he had won the Guild race during our days at campus, nothing else had gone on to materialize for him. The latest blow was the just concluded presidential election where he managed to garner only a paltry 1.1% of the total vote. He had gone on to announce his retirement from public life. Many more distinguished guests kept taking their seats in the hall.
Time check 2.30pm, it was time for the function to start. The school of performing Arts which was in charge of the musical presentation started us off as we proceeded to make way into the hall. The entourage was being led by Prof Wadidi Frank who was in fact the first among us to deliver such a lecture, closely followed by Prof Kabuga Patience, Prof Nagawa Melissa, Prof Katumbire Hillary. Dr Kevin Jemba, Dr Khaddu Jeff, Dr Kasibante David, Dr Naluyima  and many other eminent law lecturers formed the entourage as well. It was visible from the group that women had gone a notch higher in the academic field as compared to us the men. Being the owner of the event I came at the tail end of the procession together with my lovely wife (name withheld on purpose). The main hall was brimming with people of all walks of life, students, politicians, public and civil servants, dignitaries. The music bellowed, we marched on, the crowd kept clapping and the cameras couldn't stop flashing, inside me I couldn't help but smile.

Soon after the anthems, Isabella Magina(a successful Attorney herself) who was the MC of the function mounted the floor and took us through a rollercoaster of the day's program. She then called upon the Vice Chancellor to officially open the ceremony. Prof Begumya Rushongoza wasted no time with formalities, he welcomed the guests in their distinguished capacities and thanked them for making it to the event. He reserved special recognition for Chief Justice Aaron Kaleba and the learned Attorney General Nyombi Solomon. He also didn't forget to recognise the presence of the Acting Chairperson of the Judicial Service Commission, Ahikiriza Benjamin.
Shortly after, the Principal School of Law was called on to introduce me and invite me to deliver the lecture. Dr Muhumuza Ivy strolled to the podium much to the amusement of her former classmates who had fond memories of her commitment especially to tasks entrusted to her. They could imagine how much Law School had changed especially under her stewardship. But before executing her duty at hand, she noticed that a very important man had just entered into the room and deemed it wise that he is brought to the attention of us all. Dr Ivy first introduced Ambassador Kansiime Drare who had recently been appointed to represent Uganda in Russia. His wife was conspicuously absent but we were later told that she had a judgment to deliver that day in the Supreme court of Nigeria. "Ladies and gentlemen gathered here today, the task before me is simple. I have the honour of introducing to you a man of great worth, a man who has achieved so much success in the area of the law, one who has amassed so much knowledge on the law. Prof Patrick started with a Bachelor's degree in Law here at Makerere, went on to do a Masters in Law at the University of Pretoria in South Africa, did his PHD at the prestigious Havard University..." At that point I woke up!!!