African Centre for Media Excellence (ACME) has revealed in a statement that its fourth annual lecture under the themed “Media and Politics in Africa” will feature Dr Willy Mutunga, the former chief justice and president of the Supreme Court of Kenya.
The main purpose of the lecture series is to explore the relationship between media and politics amidst changing technological, demographic, and political conditions on the continent, reads the statement.
Dr Mutunga, ACME says, will deliver this year’s lecture on the afternoon of Wednesday, November 8, at the Golf Course Hotel in Kampala.
His lecture is titled, “Politics, Media and Judicial Independence in Africa”.
“Dr Mutunga will draw on his own experience while at the judiciary to offer insight into how the cutthroat worlds of media and politics affect judicial independence on the continent,” said Dr Peter Mwesige, ACME’s executive director as quoted in the statement.
“We are honoured to have him in a year when the Supreme Court of Kenya made history by annulling the presidential election held on 8 August.”
Dr Mutunga was Kenya’s chief justice and president of the Supreme Court from 2011 to 2016.
He has recently served as the Commonwealth secretary general’s special envoy to the Maldives, and as a distinguished scholar-in-residence at the Leitner Center for International Law and Justice at Fordham Law School in New York City.
Before becoming chief justice, Dr Mutunga headed Ford Foundation’s East Africa office based in Nairobi.
“Given the involving political debates taking place in East Africa, especially in Uganda and Kenya, we could not have had a better speaker that Dr Mutunga — lawyer, thinker and reform leader,” said Bernard Tabaire, ACME’s director of programmes.
“We look forward to a lively discussion, to which the public is invited.”