In 1969, two brilliant young lawyers: John Winston Katende and Edward Fredrick Ssempebwa, complete their legal training at the University of East Africa in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania. They set out to drastically change Uganda’s legal landscape, which hitherto, has been dominated by non-indigenous Ugandans. Their dream is to infuse intellect and rare tact into this field, which has attracted only a handful of ethnic Ugandans.
Making a commitment to remain united (a promise they have kept for 50 years), they establish Katende, Ssempebwa & Company Advocates aka ‘KATS’. However, being cognizant of the need to widen their horizons, they seek advanced legal training abroad.
Besides augmenting their academic portfolios, they have the vision to realize that future legal challenges will demand exposure to international legal regimes. John Katende heads to Massachusetts to join Harvard University in the United States of America, while Prof. Ssempebwa opts for Queens University, Belfast, in Ireland.