Jailed lawyer Male Mabirizi has petitioned the Judicial Service Commission seeking to remove Court of Appeal/Constitutional Court Judge Christopher Izama Madrama from office because of being incompetent and biased.
According to Mabirizi, on February 11th 2022, he filed an application for stay of execution against a High Court decision made by Civil Division Judge Musa Ssekaana to send him to jail for 18 months for contempt of court and he came to know that it was handled by Madrama.
But he says he did not get an opportunity to object to the hearing and determination of that case before him because of the warrant of arrest and the subsequent committal to prison by Ssekaana.
However, in his petition a copy of which Uganda Radio Network has seen, Mabirizi contends that there exists an unmitigated animosity between him and Madrama dating way back to 2014, when 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 says 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.
According to Mabirizi, he had obtained a temporary injunction from the Commercial Court Registrar stopping the landlord from evicting him but in the process, Justice Madrama then a commercial court judge directed him and the landlord to settle their issues out of court.
But later 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 that when viewed objectively, 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.
Mabirizi adds that “since…the burden, therefore on our Judges are greater than anywhere else.. Judges (must) submit themselves to the tests on their impartiality and independence on all fronts the disqualification bias, the actual bias, the perceived bias, the behavioral bias, the conscious bias, and the unconscious bias.”
To Mabirizi therefore, Madama committed misbehavior and incompetence when he sat in a case allegedly of his enemy, himself.
He now wants the Judicial Service Commission to remove Madrama from office.
When contacted, the Judicial Service Commission Spokesperson Maria Nabulya 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.
Mabirizi who has since filed other similar applications against a number of High Court Judges including Musa Ssekaana among others is currently serving an 18 months jail term at Kitalya Min Max Prison.
