Becoming Ms. Hon. Rtd. Justice Mary I. D. Maitum

Before she wore the robes of Justice, before she stood at the intersections of law and legacy, Ms. Hon. Rtd. Justice Mary I. D. Maitum was simply a girl with a bruised beginning and a bookshelf full of ambition.

Born into the crosswinds of emotional disorder and raised between two homes and three stepmothers, Ms. Hon. Rtd. Justice Mary I. D. Maitum’s childhood was anything but scripted. Life did not offer her ease. It offered her edges, sharp, uneven, and unforgiving. But in those rough corners, she found shape. A father in transit gifted her rare moments of tenderness. A mother, steeled by life, carved her with structure and discipline so unflinching it could rival any army's code.

Her schooling followed her life’s rhythm: erratic, improvised, and persistent. Kaberamaido when she was with her father. Galake when her mother held the reins. Yet somewhere between the relocations, the silences, and the strictness, a fire began to flicker.

That fire found its name at Namagunga. A scholarship not only offered her a desk and a uniform, it gave her permission to bloom. What began as defiance turned into leadership. What started as survival became intention. She read Shakespeare like scripture and tucked away lessons from every novel, every face, every fall. Books taught her what the world wouldn’t. And in return, she taught the world how to rise with a spine full of stories.

This is not nostalgia.
This is origin.
And Ms. Hon. Rtd. Justice Mary I. D. Maitum?
She didn’t escape her story; she mastered it.

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©Blurb written by Divine Karungi

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