A five-member panel of Supreme Court Justices has been constituted to hear the appeal by Male Mabirizi challenging the judgment that overturned orders requiring Kabaka Ronald Mutebi to avail bank statements for all land transactions by Buganda land Board.
The panel comprises Justices Faith Mwondha, Opio Aweri, Professor Lillian Tibatemwa, Paul Mugamba and Richard Buteera. The head of the panel Justice Faith Mwondha disclosed the other members of the panel while presiding over the conferencing session for the case on Monday afternoon.
During the conferencing, Justice Mwondha directed Mabirizi to file his written submissions before March 10th, 2020. She also directed the Kabaka who was represented by his lawyers, Sarah Kisubi and Charlotte Nalumansi to file their response by March 18th, 2020, adding that in case there are any rejoinders they should be made before March 23rd, 2020.
She fixed April 9th 2020 as the date when the hearing with begin. In October 2018, Mabirizi appealed to the Supreme Court challenging the judgment by a team of judges led by Egonda Ntende nullifying orders issued by High Court Judge Patricia Basaza to avail bank statements, register and details of all the people occupying the official Mailo land dating back to 1993.
She issued the orders in relation to Mabirizi’s application where he was challenging the collection of land fees commonly known as Busuulu. Mabirizi stated that many people’s freedom and rights to property had been violated by the Kabaka’s actions of charging betweenSshillings 100,000 and 600,000 for compulsory land registration.
However, the Court of Appeal quashed the order, saying it was unlawful, adding that Mabirizi hadn’t proved to court that he was representing many other people whose freedom and rights to property had been violated by the Kabaka’s actions.
It was against this background that Mabirizi ran to the Supreme Court where he raised 44 grounds of appeal among others the fact that the Court of Appeal justices failed to indicate dates on which their respective rulings were written thereby leaving blank spaces, which is unlawful. He argues that judges are supposed to show when the judgment was delivered given the fact that some court orders operate within a certain time frame.
Mabirizi who represents himself also argues that the Court of Appeal Judges strayed from the issues framed by the parties and proceeded to decide on their own matters contrary to what had been adduced before them. He now wants the Supreme Court to order Kabaka to produce all the particulars of the people living on Mailo Land and details of the money collected from them since 1993.
The News Editor ,Reporter at Kagadi Kibaale community Radio
