President Museveni’s longtime personal lawyer and State Minister in charge of lands in the Ministry of Lands Housing and Urban Development Dr Sam Mayanja has revealed that Uganda’s judiciary is under captivity and is being controlled by senior government officials who now determine how Court Cases should be decided.
Speaking to Ono Bwino Online, Minister Mayanja disclosed that if nothing is done to liberate the judiciary, Ugandans will resort to mob justice which will create anarchy and insecurity in the country and will lead to bloodshed.
“I have been observing how this person has been promoting judicial officers who decide cases under his instructions. It is the reason why it is very difficult to defeat Kabaka of Buganda Ronald Muwenda Mutebi in Courts. Even when you have all the evidence against him, the judges will look the other side and rule in his favour because of the orders issued by that person,” Mayanja claims.
Mayanja narrates that last week, he was shocked to learn from a senior government official that he was dragged to Court together with Phiona Birungi the Senior Presidential Assistant on Special Duties over the orders he issued on Kabaka’s land in Kaazi Wakiso district.
Mayanja says that he thought that if a person drags him to Court, the complainant has to serve him. But in the said case, he was not served. He made a phone call to Birungi who also told him that she had not yet received the Court summons.
He explains that he instructed his lawyers to check with the Court to establish whether there is a lawsuit against him and whether he was sued in his personal capacity.
“What I did was to write to Justice Bonny Isaac Teko who was going to preside over the matter to give me more time so that I study the petition against us together with my lawyers because I was sued in my personal capacity. I was shocked when I was told that my letter angered the judge and he decided the matter without hearing my side of the story even though I am the one who issued the directives not the Attorney General who was also a party in the case,” Mayanja says.
He adds that as he was trying to seek intervention from other top government officials to save him and also be heard, he was informed that the judge was given instruction by a senior government official to determine the matter against Mayanja and Birungi before the end of last week because their action on Kaazi land was threatening Kabaka Mutebi’s interests.
Mayanja explains that the temporary order against his directives on Kaazi land was issued while he was in final stages of executing the directives and he is very sure that Kabaka through his henchman in Museveni’s government thought that the only way to survive is through a one-sided Court Order which was issued.
However, according to Court record, Justice Teko explained that he was persuaded by Kabaka’s lawyers led by Usaam Ssebuufu of K&K Advocates who explained to him that he can decide the matter even without the presence of Mayanja and Birungi’s representatives noting that the presence of George Kalemera a senior lawyer in the Attorney General’s chambers is enough, an explanation the judge agreed with.
Mayanja protested the move insisting that the Attorney General did not consult him when he was going to defend his alleged illegal actions. He wonders where he got the evidence he based on when defending him.
He insists that this is syndicate being played to use Court to save Kabaka Mutebi’s interests noting that he will not be surprised to see Justice Teko also promoted as it was done to Justice Kazibwe Kawumi who was promoted to the Constitutional Court which also doubles as the Court of Appeal after saving Kabaka in Mubende Court. He argues that the same thing was done to Justice Dr Flavian Zeija who was appointed the Deputy Chief Justice after making several controversial orders saving the Kabaka.
He alleges that because of the said government official’s orders, it is the reason why controversial city lawyer Male Mabirizi lost his good cases in law against Kabaka Mutebi on technicalities without allowing him to prosecute his cases to their logical conclusion and expose the legalities the people serving in Kabaka Mutebi’s government are involved in.
He wonders how the Attorney General can pick interest in and ask Court to also be allowed to join the matter between Kabaka Mutebi’s family and the Estate of the late Muhammad Kasasa Buwule who fought for his land in Mutungo up to his death.
He claims that the Attorney General is ignoring Kasasa’s will on how he wished his Estate to be managed and because they know Mayanja was a witness to Kasasa’s will and was appointed as one of the executors of the will, they have started to create infighting among Kasasa’s children to compromise them and take their father’s multibillion land in Mutungo a Kampala city suburb.
Mayanja explains that he has no personal interest on Kaazi land but as a government official, he is fighting for justice insisting that their evidence proves that the said land is owned by the administrators of the Estate of Sir Daudi Chwa not Buganda Kingdom or Kabaka Mutebi has he claims.
He adds that before visiting the locus, he first carried out investigations after being tipped that by a top government official who directed him to intervene and save the Estate of Daudi Chwa.
After making his investigations, he shared his findings with different government investigation agencies which also agreed with him and shared it with a top government official who assigned him on the matter.
Mayanja said that he knows a number of lawyers who are crying because of the action of this senior government official who is using his position to control and determine how cases are determined.
He warns that if nothing is done to make judiciary independent, Ugandans will lose trust in it and resort to mob justice.
