Controversial Entebbe Chief Magistrate, Stella Maris Amabilis has been forced to recuse herself from presiding over the case against embattled land broker Mohammad Kamoga the proprietor of Kamoga Properties Ltd.
The Chief Magistrate was forced to make the decision after Kamoga, through his lawyers led by Brian Tindyebwa accused her of being biased noting that they do not expect justice from her given that she has a personal understanding with Kamoga and they normally chat through WhatsApp messages and discuss the cases he is facing.
Before Tindyebwa applied for the recusal of the magistrate, the State Prosecutor had informed Court that they are ready to proceed with the hearing of the matter and have paraded a number of witnesses to testify against the accused person.
Kamoga’s lawyer, Brian Tindyebwa raised a strange objection to the case protesting the proceeding of the matter before the magistrate clears herself on allegations that his client was placing on her.
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As a result of the objection, the magistrate adjourned the matter to have a short discussion with the accused’s lawyers and in her chambers.
After hours in a closed door meeting, Amabilis returned to court and announced that she had recused herself from the case for the good of justice and fairness noting that the case file has been with immediate effect forwarded to another magistrate to handle it.
“I have no interest in this matter but other than destroying my name and integrity, the accused has previously made a complaint against me at the Judicial Service Commission. I therefore hereby withdraw from handling the case,” soft spoken magistrate stated.
This website has established that Kamoga dragged the said magistrate to the Judicial Service Commission accusing her of being incompetent because she declined to work on the advice he was giving her on how to handle the criminal file and when she was summoned to defend herself before Justice Douglas Singiza.
Sources allege that Kamoga told her that the only way he can withdraw the complaint is if she acts on the advice he proposed to her through a WhatsApp chat which the magistrate declined to take insisting that she is ready to face off with the decision of the Judicial Service Commission.
Amabirizi is not the first judicial officer to be dragged to the Judicial Service Commission by Kamoga for not following his advice. He also dragged Mukono Resident High Court judge Stephen Mubiru to the when Mubiru was still a judge at the Commercial Division of the High Court.
Kamoga’s Entebbe Criminal file was allocated to Grade One magistrate, Edgar Tusiime Tibayeita who saved Kamoga from being arrested by Court Bailiff on orders of the Lands Division of the High Court.
The matter was adjourned to July 16, 2025 and according to sources in the office of the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), State will slap fresh criminal charges against the accused including forging a legal practising license to fraudulently commit the charges he is facing.
Other criminal charges Kamoga is facing include; forgery, obtaining registration by false pretense, uttering false documents, unlawful eviction and malicious damage to property regarding fraudulent acquisition of a 200 acre land at Garuga-Bukaayain Entebbe, Wakiso District.
Kamoga’s criminal proceedings at Entebbe Chief Magistrate Court resulted from Supreme Court Justice Monica Mugenyi’s ruling dismissing his application where he was seeking a court order staying his said criminal trial until the determination of his appeal challenging his trial which is pending before the Supreme Court after losing at the Court of Appeal.
Justice Mugenyi held that she was unable to grant the interim order sought by Kamoga reasoning that the end of justice are better served by a speedy prosecution of the criminal case, the determination of which would support rather than negate the pending civil case.
“It has not been established before me that the applicant (Kamoga) would not undergo a fair trial in Criminal Case No. S 835 & 836 of 2023 or that the integrity of the criminal justice system would otherwise be compromised by his prosecution. I take the view that the impending prosecution of that case would not necessarily amount to a threat to the applicant’s right to a fair trial, but rather the commencement of a legal process by the constitutionally mandated office,” Justice Mugenyi held.
The judge observed that not only do criminal proceedings generally take precedence over civil proceedings, Kamoga’s pending civil suit would not be jeopardised by his prosecution in so far as the latter proceedings offers him the opportunity to rebut the allegations of forgery with the evidence that the challenged land transfer forms had in fact been signed by Peter Bibangamba, the complainant.
Kamoga is accused of forging signatures of businessman Peter Bibangamba on transfer forms for land at Bukaya, Entebbe, fraudulently acquiring registration, uttering false documents, unlawful eviction and malicious damage to property.
His legal troubles stem from allegations that he used forged transfer forms to unlawfully transfer land ownership from Peter Bibangamba into his names for over 200 acres of land.
