Lawyer Mabirizi to serve 18 months in jail for contempt of Court

Kampala provocative Lawyer Male Mabirizi should be arrested on sight to serve 18 months in jail for contempt of court, the High Court has ordered. 

Judge Musa Ssekaana of the Civil Division High Court issued the orders after finding Mabirizi guilty of contempt of court for the second time.

Trouble for Mabirizi stemmed from an application by State Attorney Patricia Mutesi who argued that despite the high court orders issued on January 27th, 2022 cautioning Mabirizi to desist from attacking judicial officers, he is adamant and continues making contemptuous posts on his social media platforms against the presiding judge (Ssekaana) and the Judiciary.

Mutesi claims that Mabirizi accused Ssekaana of being biased, incompetent, and unable to head the smallest court of a family and one who doesn’t qualify for any award from Uganda Law Society and even for a Grade Two Magistrate.

She also claims that the rest of the posts were crafted in vulgarized language.
Mutesi further told the court that Mabirizi described the fine of Shillings 300 million imposed on him by Justice Ssekaana last month for contempt of Court as null and void, saying this wasn’t only an attack on the court but the entire Judiciary. 

She then asked the court to find Mabirizi guilty of contempt of court and commit him to civil prison. 

Mabirizi’s lawyer Noel Nuwe on the other hand asked the Court to give his client an opportunity to appear and explain if he made those posts in violation of the earlier court order.

He also argued that Mabirizi was not aware of the court ruling that barred him from attacking judicial officers and only came to know about it on Tuesday morning and needed more time to defend himself.

However, Justice Ssekaana in his summarized ruling argued that Mabirizi never presented himself nor filed any affidavits denying the accusations even when he was summoned.

He explained that given the circumstances, the court was left with no option but to order for his arrest on sight to serve 18 months in civil prison. 

The judge further said that he was forced to make the brief ruling to avoid further attacks, adding that he will deliver a detailed ruling supporting his decision in due course. 

The duo has been feuding since way back in 2019 during the hearing of an application challenging the decision by Justice Simon Byabakama to continue working as the Electoral Commission Chairperson without relinquishing his powers as a Justice of the Court of Appeal.

During the proceedings, Ssekaana told Mabirizi to submit his rubbish when he accused him of bias. Mabirizi vowed never to appear before Justice Ssekaana voluntarily.