Embatted City Lawyer Male Mabirizi, currently serving an 18 month jail time at Kitalya Government Prison has petitioned the Judicial Service Commission to recuse another Judge from office.
Mabirizi is seeking the removal of Justice Christopher Izama Madrama of the Court of Appeal/Constitutional Court on grounds that he is incompetent and biased.
Mabirizi, claims that justice Madrama has refused to grant him a fair hearing in a case where he seeks a stay of execution over the jail time handed to him by Civil Division Judge Musa Ssekaana. Mabirizi claims the sentence was instead handed to him by Justice Madrama and not Ssekaana as earlier presumed.
Mabirizi contends that there exists an unmitigated situation between him and Madrama dating way back to 2014. He was suing his Landlord N Shah Company Limited to recover rent of more than 30 million shillings that his company had reportedly paid illegally for office space at Span House in Kampala.
He explains that he was representing MK Financiers Limited as its Managing Director in a case against N Shah Company Limited and he reportedly accused Madrama of bias before the Commercial Court.
“…. and I caught his clerk at the respondent’s office stating that ‘he was to deliver the message to the Judge’ as well as my February 12th 2018 petition to the Speaker of Parliament not to approve him upon being nominated for appointment as a Justice of Appeal”, reads the petition in part.
In the said case Mabirizi has told URN that he was suing his Landlord N Shah Company Limited seeking to recover rent of more than 30 million shillings that his company had reportedly paid illegally for office space at Span House in Kampala.
Justice Madrama then a commercial court Judge directed him and the Landlord to settle their issues out of Court. Mabirizi alleges that he found a clerk of the Judge leaving the Landlord’s office in what he interpreted that he had been sent to engage the Judge.
In his petition now, Mabirizi says Madrama while at the Court of Appeal was not able to listen to him with an open mind since he is the same person who invested significant resources in ensuring that he is not elevated to the Court of Appeal/Constitutional Court.
... And it was no surprise that he refused to grant me a release order although he stayed the execution of the Ugx 300,000,000(Uganda Shillings three hundred million Shillings only”)”, reads the petition.
To Mabirizi therefore, Madama committed misbehavior and incompetence when he sat in a case allegedly of his enemy, himself.
The Judicial Service Commission Spokesperson Maria Nabulya has confirmed that they received Mabirizi’s petition on March 10th 2022 and just like any other complaint involving judicial officers, due process will be followed, investigations carried out and the outcome will be communicated when the matter is concluded.
This is not the first time that Mabirizi wants the Judicial Service Commission to remove a Judge from office.
In 2021, Mabirizi petitioned the Judicial Service Commission seeking the removal of eight Supreme Court Justices led by Chief Justice Alfonse Owiny- Dollo over alleged misconduct and incompetence.
The justices are: Stella Arach Amoko, Faith Mwondha, Opio Aweri, Paul Mugamba, Mike Chibita, Percy Tuhaise and Ezekiel Muhanguzi.
He accused them of having allegedly shunned Court as their colleague Justice Dr Esther Kisakye was delivering her dissenting on an application arising from the presidential election petition filed by former presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu challenging the victory of the president-elect and incumbent Yoweri Kaguta Museveni.
