Pressure is mounting on flamboyant Buganda Road Chief Magistrate Ronald Kayizzi after fellow judicial officers accused him of siding with their tormentor Isaac Kimeeze Ssemakadde the maverick Uganda Law Society (ULS) president.
Kayizi is being accused of declining to issue an arrest warrant against Ssemakadde who has to answer to charges of insulting the modesty of a woman.
On 10th of February 2025, Kayizzi declined to issue an arrest warrant against Ssemakadde giving him the last opportunity to appear in Court on 24th of February 2025.
Through his lawyers led by Criminal Law Giant Derrick Bazzeketta, Ssemakadde informed court that their client didn’t intentionally refuse to appear in Court as private prosecutors Jushua Byamazima and Tonny Tumukunde were alleging.
The controversial magistrate insisted that Ssemakadde must be in the dock in person to answer the charges against him.
Kayizi rubbished the explanation by his lawyers that his presence can be recognised through them given that they are his lawyers.
Highly placed sources in the judicial system revealed to Top Secrets that a number of judicial officers were shocked with Kayizzi’s decision and they turned their disbelief on several WhatsApp groups to condemn the man from Nakaseke district.
Sources said that judicial officers want to use Ssemakadde to teach a lesson to other lawyers and litigants that no one insults them and walks away scotch free.
During the recent Judges Conference, they tasked the Chief Justice Owiny Dollo to explain to them why he was sidelining with Ssemakadde to the extent of inviting him at his official home where they savored on eats and drinks.
Sources added that as a sign of gesture that he was not sidelining g with Ssemakadde, Dollo decided to ban Ssemakadde from speaking at any judiciary function starting with the recently opening of the new year until he apologises to judicial officers he has insulted especially Justice Musa Ssekaana of the Court of Appeal and the Director of Public Prosecution Justice Jane Frances Abodo.
“So, I’m the one who said the president of the Uganda Law Society called Isaac Ssemakadde will not speak at the judiciary function,” Dollo said during the function and added that, “somebody insults you, degrades you, dehumanises you and then he comes to your compound and says, I want to speak as if it’s business as usual, it’s not business as usual,” furious Dollo said.
Sources said that even if Ssemakadde makes a public apology as demanded by justice Dollo, there is a section of judicial officers who want to see him board the maroon prison’s bus to Luzira or Kitalya prison.
It is going to be a big task for his lawyers to secure a court order stopping private prosecution against him at Buganda Road Court which he filed at the Criminal Division of the High Court.
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His file was allocated to Justice Gadenya Walimbwa.
The development comes after Attorney General Kiryowa Kiwanuka hired top lawyers led by Robert Kirunda to pursue defamation cases against Ssemakadde and media houses including Daily Monitor, the Observer among others.
Kiwanuka wants the newspapers and other media houses to apologize to him on full pages and the apology must run seven times.
After the apologies, he will sit with them and they agree on the amount of money to compensate him for the damages caused on his persona, his career and family.
Ssemakadde was also directed to issue a public apology to Kiwanuka who accused him of authoring demeaning, malicious statements against him since 2021 when he was appointed the Attorney General where he branded him as a corrupt person, not worthy to be trusted and a liar.
However, sources close to Ssemakadde told this investigative website that his friends have kicked off efforts to settle the matter out of court but it is not clear whether Ssemakadde will accept to issue an apology even though he is very scared of being imprisoned.
Ssemakadde is a celebrated human rights lawyer and he has saved several journalists, university students, politicians from rotting in the prison.
He has on several occasions put up a spirited fighting the courtroom which fights have sometimes landed him in trouble with judicial officers.
He one time had to run into hiding to survive imprisonment.
Sources close to Ssemakadde revealed that the brilliant law gem at one time tried to run into exile because of some judicial officers who were on his neck but the American government denied him papers.
