Court blocks Soldier, Lawyer Munungu from grabbing Shs22bn from Government

By Our Reporter

Court has sent a wave of excitement among victims of Mpokya forest eviction after blocking the release of Shs22bn. Justice Muzamiru Kibedi of the Court of Appeal on Friday ignored several threatening letters and social media rants from Lt. Col. David Kabareebe and city lawyer Dr. David Gureme Mushabe to issue an interim order stopping the payment.

“In the premises, the key averment of an imminent threat of payment was neither denied nor rebutted in substance by the respondents (Lt. Col. Kabareebe and others). In the final result, I allow this application and grant an Interim Order staying execution and enforcement of the orders of the High Court in HCMA No. 555 of 2018 Tumwijukye Mpirirwe & Others Vs Lt. Col. Kabareebe and others until further orders of this court,” Justice Kibedi stated.

The judge was satisfied that this application which was filed by the law firm of Bashasha and Company Advocates had met the pre-conditions for grant of an interim order especially the fact that there was a substantive application for stay.

The judge also considered the fact that there was a serious threat of execution (release of the funds) agreeing with the affidavit evidence of Ms. Joan Namanya where she stated that there is already a certificate of order of Payment that was issued against government and two demand letters written by lawyers of Mushabe, Munungu & Co. Advocates. The judge found that this evidence by Namanya was not rebutted by Lt. Col. Kabareebe and lawyer Mushabe.

JUSTICE MUGAMBE IN TROUBLE

The ruling has strengthened the victim’s case they filed against Justice Lydia Mugambe of the High Court in the Judicial Service Commission (JSC). One of the sons to the original claimants, Benon Turyamureeba dragged Justice Mugambe to the JSC asking it to recommend her dismissal from judicial service on grounds that she had connived with lawyers of Mushabe, Munungu to direct for fresh verification and having money released through the said law firm instead of it being released to individual accounts.

“The first judgment delivered way back in 1993 by Justice Ignatius Mukanza had already determined that each of the victims was entitled to Shs12m compensation with interest of 6%. We were surprised when Justice Mugambe directed on April 20, 2018 that government should release part of our money to be used for verification and after which the balance be released to the law firm of Mushabe to determine what to give us. He basically gave all our compensation to Mushabe to use it the way he wished and determine what to give us,” he stated. The victims also accuse Justice Mugambe of hiding their file after delivering the ruling.

“It was not until she was transferred to Criminal Division that we accessed our file. We have also accessed telephone printouts of her number showing that she was in constant communication with Mushabe and Lt. Col. Kabareebe during the period she delivered her ruling and we intend to rely on it as evidence against her in the JSC complaint,” he said.

The complainant claims Justice Mugambe is not fit to be a judge because she is very vindictive and has been punishing some of their lawyers by punishing their lawyers with costs or ignoring some facts which may make them win cases before her.

The ruling came a few days after another law firm of Nangumya and Company Advocates had written to President Yoweri Museveni asking him to discipline Lt. Col. Kabareebe for having written to him a misleading letter asking him to direct the Ministry of Finance to release the money to him yet he was very well aware that cases challenging the release of this money were still pending in court.

“Your Excellency, the letter dated May 25, 2020 was addressed to you with a request to direct the Ministry of Finance to pay Shs22bn. Your Excellency, Lt. Col. Kabareebe’s letter is only intended to intimidate, malign and/or interfere with the independence of the Judiciary in light of pending Court Proceedings,” Nangumya stated.

He said he sincerely believes that Lt. Col. Kabareebe’s letter was written in bad faith and with the sole purpose of misleading the president by suppressing facts relevant to the issues before court. He copied the letter to the Chief of Defense Forces Gen. David Muhoozi, Attorney General William Byaruhanga, PS Ministry of Finance Keith Muhakanizi, Chieftaincy of Military Intelligence (CMI) and Chief of Legal Services (UPDF).