Counsel Yasin Ssentumbwe the head of Ideology and training in the Radical New Bar leadership has confirmed that his boss Isaac Ssemakadde the president of the Uganda Law Society has paraded more than fifty lawyers to defend maverick lawyer Male Mabirizi in the hate speech criminal case against him.
Mabirizi is expected to appear before Buganda Road Chief Magistrate Ritah Kidasa Wanyama on 20th March 2026 to know how far the investigations into his matter have reached and argue his application including the one where he is seeking the trial magistrate to recuse herself from the trial plus submit fresh documents supporting his bail application.
Ssentumbwe said that senior counsel Ssemakadde is going to lead the defence lawyers on zoom and he will be assisted by his vice president Anthony Asiimwe who has been in charge of the matter as other lawyers push State prosecution team led by controversial Senior State Attorney Richard Birivumbuka.
“Ssemakadde himself is the one going to cross-examine both the complainants, that’s Justice Musa Ssekaana and Chief Justice Dr Flavian Zeija. We are ready for the trial and very happy with the support we are receiving from senior judicial officers who are not happy with the way the judiciary is being run,” Ssentumbwe said.
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This website recently reported that Justice Ssekaana of the Court of Appeal which also doubles as the Constitutional Court recorded a statement against Mabirizi at Kampala Metropolitan police headquarters in Kampala but the other complainant Justice Zeija has not yet recorded his statement.
Both senior judicial officers accuse Mabirizi of using his social media handles to spread malicious and dangerous hate speech against them as persons.
Early in March, Mabirizi was further remanded to Luzira prison after the trial magistrate dismissed his bail application on grounds that his Identity Card and the ones of his sureties’ were expired and they didn’t show evidence that they applied for new ones.
However, Mabirizi insisted that Kidasa should recuse herself from his case because of their personal issues resulting from the complaint he filed with Judicial Service Commission where he wanted her to be removed from the Office of the Judicial Officer on grounds of being biased.
The magistrate directed Mabirizi to put his recusal application in writing.
