Kampala, Uganda | URN | Uganda Law Society (ULS) President Isaac Ssemakadde has welcomed the Constitutional Court ruling on the offence of insulting the modesty of a woman. He says the ruling vindicates his long-running challenge against the law under which an arrest warrant was issued against him.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, Ssemakadde said the decision brought him closer to returning to Uganda, where he intends to resume his leadership of the Uganda Law Society. “I have been vindicated by the Constitutional Court for the second time this year,” Ssemakadde said.
The Constitutional Court, in a unanimous judgment delivered by a five-judge panel led by Justice Cheborion Barishaki, ruled that Sections 115(1) and 115(3) of the Penal Code Act, which previously restricted protection against indecent assault and acts insulting modesty to women and girls, were discriminatory.
The court ordered that the words “any woman or girl” be replaced with “any person”, extending the protection to men as well.
It also directed the Attorney General to introduce a Bill within 12 months to amend the law and provide a clearer definition of the conduct prohibited under Section 115(3).
The ruling comes against the background of Ssemakadde’s prosecution over remarks he made about then Director of Public Prosecutions Jane Frances Abodo during a political symposium in Kampala in November 2024. He was charged with insulting the modesty of a woman under Section 115(3) of the Penal Code Act.
Buganda Road Chief Magistrates Court issued a warrant of arrest against him after he failed to appear in court.
Ssemakadde, who has since been living outside Uganda, has maintained that the prosecution was part of a campaign against him over his outspoken criticism of public officials and the Judiciary.
In his statement reacting to the verdict, he described the offence as one of the two legal foundations of the international arrest warrant issued against him.
He said the first occasion on which he felt vindicated was March 17, 2026, when the Constitutional Court ruled in Alternative Digitalk and Others v Attorney General that Uganda was treaty-bound to repeal laws criminalising sedition, insult and the publication of false news.
The other offence he says continues to keep him in exile is contempt of court, arising from a separate case in which he was sentenced to two years in prison by then Civil Division Judge Musa Ssekaana, who is now a Constitutional Court justice.
Ssemakadde has challenged the sentence and urged the Judiciary to hear his appeal, arguing that the case raises questions about freedom of expression and the limits of criticism directed at judicial officers.
“I have been relentlessly persecuted as a martyr for freedom of expression and opinion, and particularly for the nonderogable right to insult and annoy public figures,” he said.
He thanked lawyer Steven Kalali, who petitioned the Constitutional Court, alongside co-lead counsel Paul Mukiibi and Caleb Alaka, for pursuing the case.
Ssemakadde said the lawyers had handled the matter at their own expense but in the interest of his freedom. “I am one step closer to returning home to complete what we started,” he said.
However, the effect of the ruling on the existing criminal proceedings and arrest warrant against Ssemakadde will depend on its operative orders and any consequential directions by the relevant courts.
It is not yet clear whether the decision, by itself, overturns his separate two-year contempt-of-court sentence.
