High court Judge Boniface Wamala has dismissed an application filed by jailed City Lawyer Hassan Male Mabirizi, who wanted the judge to step aside from his case for a number of reasons.
In his application filed before High court Civil Division, Mabirizi contends that Justice Wamala has handled most his cases unfairly.
“The Applicant alleges that I appear to have a personal vendetta against him and accuses me of being an extension of Justice Musa Ssekaana. He thus asks me to recuse myself from his matters including not delivering the pending ruling in proceedings already taken by me.” noted the judge.
And while he has so far ruled four times against Mabirizi, Justice Wamala said this didn’t constitute evidence of bias.
“It simply depends on the nature of the applications, the law and the facts. It is not true that every time a party loses, even repetitively, before a particular judge, such is a sign of bias.” Justice Wamala ruled
He therefore emphasized it that the other allegations are speculative and not based on any facts.
“Judicial officers do not hold personal vendetta against litigants that appear before them. In case any such vendetta exists, which would be exceptional to the rule, it cannot be assumed. Facts must be set out that point to and establish existence of such a vendetta. It is not true that I have any vendetta against the Applicant. No facts to prove otherwise have been disclosed. My conscience is very clear and I have handled the cases in issue with a clear mind.”
As such, he said he found no reason to recuse himself from the matter.
Mabirizi is currently at serving his 18 months sentence to Civil Prison, where he was sentenced by High court judge Musa Ssekaana.
His appeal is pending before Court of Appeal.
