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Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | City lawyer Male Mabirizi has petitioned the Supreme Court seeking to stop the delivery of detailed rulings arising from the presidential election petitions filed by the former presidential candidate, Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu. In his application filed this morning, Mabirizi wants court to halt the delivery of the rulings pending the determination of his application to stay all the proceedings arising from the petition.
“I hereby move to arrest the rulings in Miscellaneous Application number 3 of 2021 fixed for March 17, 2021 and for Miscellaneous Applications number 1, 4 and 5 for March 18, 2021, for being null and void”, reads his petition in part. On Tuesday evening, the Supreme Court had indicated its plan to deliver a detailing ruling in an application in which, Mabirizi asked the Chief Justice Alfonse Owiny-Dollo to step down from hearing Kyagulanyi’s presidential petition.
Kyagulanyi has since withdrawn the application, in which he had sought to overturn president, Yoweri Museveni’s victory in the January 14, 2021 polls. The Supreme Court also indicated that it would issue a detailed ruling stating the reasons why they allowed Kyagulanyi to withdraw the petition and decide whether or not to condemn him to pay costs of the suit.
It these detailed rulings that Mabirizi wants to stop, saying that failure to do so would amount to an incurable procedural irregularity and lead to a declaration that all those proceedings were illegal as it was held by the East African Court of Justice Appellate Division in 2016.
The Supreme Court is expected to pronounce itself on the matter. This is not the first time someone wants to block the court from delivering a ruling. Several months ago, the parties in the Election Petition appeal involving the Rubaga South MP Kato Lubwama and his rival, Habib Buwembo declined to receive a judgment from the Court of Appeal.
Although Justices Cheborion Barishaki, one of the three justices on the panel of the appellant court was ready to read the judgment, the parties raised objection arguing that the case had not been fully heard. This prompted Justice Barishaki to walk back to the chambers with a copy of their unread Judgment.
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