Severino Twinobusingye
A Ugandan senior advocate who won an unprecedented UGX 12.9 billion legal-fees award for a 2011 constitutional challenge, later represented Amama Mbabazi's 2016 presidential election petition, and now chairs the university council of the disputed Karamoja Peace and Technology University.
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- Location
- Kampala
- Country
- Uganda
- Born
- 21 September 1969
- Profession
- Senior Advocate of the High Court of Uganda
- Law firm
- Founder, M/s Twinobusingye Severino & Co. Advocates (2012–present)stated by the subject
- Current role
- Vice President and University Council Chairperson, Karamoja Peace and Technology University (KAPATU); President, Catholic Lawyers Society International (CLASI)
Overview
Severino Twinobusingye is a Ugandan senior advocate best known for a single unprecedented legal-fee award and for representing opposing sides of the country’s biggest political disputes at different points in his career. Born 21 September 1969 in Kigarama Village, Kanungu District (Twinobusingye Severino & Co. Advocates), he worked in legal and management roles at Uganda’s Electoral Commission for roughly eight years before founding his own firm, M/s Twinobusingye Severino & Co. Advocates, in 2012 (Monitor).
The Shs12.9 billion case
In 2011, Twinobusingye filed Constitutional Petition No. 47, challenging a parliamentary ad hoc committee’s authority to investigate Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi and two ministers over alleged oil-bribery. The Constitutional Court ruled the committee unconstitutional, and Twinobusingye was subsequently awarded approximately UGX 12.9 billion in legal fees — a sum he told the Monitor was, relative to his practice, actually “peanuts,” while critics including the Deputy Attorney General and a Commercial Court judge publicly disputed its size and propriety; Twinobusingye rejected their characterizations in the same report (Monitor). In 2016, he was named as part of Mbabazi’s legal team in Presidential Election Petition No. 1, which challenged the declared re-election of Yoweri Museveni; the Monitor’s court coverage names him directly, reporting “For the petitioner, we have Mohammed Mbabazi as lead counsel, assisted by Micheal Akampurira, Asuman Basalirwa, Severino Twinobusingye, and Jude Byabakama” (Monitor).
Karamoja Peace and Technology University
Twinobusingye leads the Catholic Lawyers Society International (CLASI), which in 2023 launched a drive to build a university in Uganda’s Karamoja sub-region (Monitor). He now serves as the resulting institution’s vice president and university council chairperson. In 2026, Uganda’s National Council for Higher Education publicly found that the Karamoja Peace and Technology University’s governance structure did not meet accreditation requirements; Twinobusingye rejected the finding as “deliberately designed to mislead” stakeholders and maintained the university had secured substantial government and international funding and complied with its interim operating authority (Monitor). This dispute was unresolved as of the reporting found for this profile.
What this profile does not claim
This profile does not adjudicate the 2026 accreditation dispute between KAPATU and Uganda’s National Council for Higher Education — both sides’ claims are reported as stated, not as settled fact. It does not take a position on the propriety of the 2013 legal-fee award, reporting only that the award was made and that it was publicly disputed at the time.
Timeline
- 1969
- Born on 21 September.
- 2003–2011
- Works in legal and management roles at Uganda's Electoral Commission.
- 2011
- Files Constitutional Petition No. 47 of 2011, challenging a parliamentary ad hoc committee's authority to investigate Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi and two ministers over oil-bribery allegations.
- 2012
- The Constitutional Court rules the ad hoc committee unconstitutional; Twinobusingye founds his own law firm.
- 2013
- Is awarded roughly UGX 12.9 billion in legal fees for the petition — an unprecedented sum that draws public and government scrutiny.
- 2016
- Is named as part of Amama Mbabazi's legal team, alongside lead counsel Mohammed Mbabazi and others, in Presidential Election Petition No. 1 of 2016 challenging the declared re-election of Yoweri Museveni.
- 2023
- Catholic Lawyers Society International, which he leads, launches a drive to build Karamoja Peace and Technology University.
- 2026
- As KAPATU's council chairperson, publicly disputes Uganda's National Council for Higher Education over the university's accreditation status, rejecting NCHE's findings as "deliberately designed to mislead."
What we could not verify
These claims came up in research and could not be confirmed. They are recorded here rather than published as fact or quietly dropped. If you hold a source that settles one, please tell us.
- The Shs12.9 billion legal-fee award drew public criticism at the time from Uganda's Deputy Attorney General and a Commercial Court judge, per his own on-record responses reported by the Monitor; this profile does not take a position on that dispute, only reports that it occurred.
- The 2026 dispute between KAPATU and Uganda's National Council for Higher Education over accreditation is unresolved as of the sources found; this profile states each side's claims as stated, not as settled fact.
Sources
5 sources (4 tier 1, 1 first-party), each opened and read against the claim it supports. Statements the subject makes about itself are marked as such and are not treated as independent evidence. See the source policy.
Each source below was fetched and read against the claim it supports. Twinobusingye has been on both sides of Ugandan politics at different times — a former NRM-aligned Electoral Commission employee who later represented opposition figure Amama Mbabazi — and remains an active, sometimes disputed figure (the 2026 NCHE accreditation dispute is unresolved as of the last reporting found). Both sides of that dispute are attributed to the official who made each claim rather than adjudicated here.
- Shs13b given to me for Mbabazi case was peanuts, says lawyer Supports: The Constitutional Petition 47 case, the legal-fee award and its size, his response to criticism from the Deputy Attorney General and a Commercial Court judge, and his background at the Electoral Commission.
- NCHE, Karamoja university promoters clash over accreditation Supports: His role as KAPATU council chairperson and his response to NCHE's accreditation findings.
- Catholic lawyers launch drive to build varsity in Karamoja Supports: His role as CLASI president and the launch of the university project.
- Legal minds flex in court as Mbabazi seeks to quash Museveni victory Supports: Independent, on-the-record confirmation naming him as part of Amama Mbabazi's legal team in the 2016 presidential election petition, alongside lead counsel Mohammed Mbabazi.
- Mr. Twinobusingye Severino, Founder and Managing Partner Supports: Full name, birth date, place of birth, and educational background.
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