He was appointed as a judge of the High Court of Uganda in 2016. He was then assigned as the Resident Judge of Mbarara High Court Circuit, the largest circuit in the country. While serving in that capacity, in December 2019, he was appointed the principal judge.
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Dr. Flavian Zeija appeared on Thursday morning before the appointments committee of parliament for vetting as Uganda’s new Chief Justice. This followed his appointment, as confirmed by Hajji Faruk Kirunda, the president’s special press assistant for mobilization.
The appointment comes just four days after former Chief Justice Alfonse Owiny-Dollo Chigamoy vacated office upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of 70.
Born on February 18, 1969, in Western Uganda, Dr. Zeija is a lawyer and academic and has since 2019 been the Principal Judge, which is the third-highest-ranking position in the Judiciary of Uganda. He replaced Dr. Yorokamu Bamwine, who was relieved of his duties after clocking the mandatory age for retirement.
He holds a Bachelor of Laws and a Master of Laws from Makerere University, a Doctor of Philosophy in Law from the University of Dar es Salaam, and a Master of Business Administration from Uganda Martyrs University.
He attended local elementary and secondary schools. In 1993, he was admitted to Makerere University, where he graduated in 1996 with a Bachelor of Laws degree. The following year, he obtained a postgraduate Diploma in legal practice from the Law Development Centre in Kampala.
In 1999, he returned to Makerere University and was admitted to the Master’s program in law. He graduated with a Master of Laws degree in 2002. His degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Law was awarded by the University of Dar es Salaam in 2013. He also holds a Master of Business Administration degree, obtained from the Uganda Martyrs University in 2018. In addition, he has been a member of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of the United Kingdom since 2012.
He started practice in 1998 as a legal assistant with Kwesigabo, Bamwine, Walubiri & Company Advocates, a Kampala-based law firm. In the past, he worked at Tropical Africa Bank as manager of legal and recovery between 2002 and 2003. He also worked at FINCA Uganda Limited as legal counsel. Before his appointment to the High Court of Uganda in 2016, he served as the managing partner at Zeija, Mukasa & Company Advocates, another Kampala-based law firm.
In addition to practising law, Flavian Zeija taught law at Uganda Christian University, Makerere University and Makerere University Business School (MUBS). At MUBS he served as the founding head of the department of business law.
He was appointed as a judge of the High Court of Uganda in 2016. He was then assigned as the Resident Judge of Mbarara High Court Circuit, the largest circuit in the country. While serving in that capacity, in December 2019, he was appointed the principal judge.
Dr Zeija now goes to the helm of the judiciary that has been battling case backlog as the biggest challenge, coupled with understaffing, but is, however, growing steadily in terms of technology and faster on its transformation journey to improve access to justice.