The Judiciary has asked former presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine to become serious about his election petition against President Yoweri Museveni instead of running to media for sympathy.
A few days ago Bobi Wine demanded that the chief justice Alfonse Owiny-Dollo , along with two other justices on the nine justice panel step down for he says it was established that the three have in the past had personal and professional relationships with President Museveni, a defendant in the matter before the very court which makes the prospect of justice highly unlikely.
However, according to the Judiciary Spokesperson Solomon Muyita, the National Unity Platform (NUP) leader should concentrate on addressing his concerns to the Courts of law instead of the media like he is currently doing. He says the media will not help him solve anything.
“The laws state that if he is not conversant with the judges in his case, the day he will come back to court he will submit his reasons as to why those three judges must not be in his case. But he should not use media because they are not courts. Such matters are reported to court where he put his petition but if he turns the matters in media then that one is politics,”
He added that Bobi Wine should not think that Uganda’s courts are political. Muyita also asked lawyers representing Bobi Wine to advise him on the same matters and the court is willing to listen to their complaints.
On Tuesday, the outgoing Kyadondo Member of Parliament asked three justices of the Supreme Court to disqualify themselves from hearing his election petition against President Museveni, citing conflict of interest. He said that if Chief Justice Alfonse Owiny-Dollo, Justice Mike Chibita and Justice Ezekiel Kurabiraho Muhanguzi remain on the panel of judges that will hear his case, justice will not be served.
“We have questions about the Chief Justice Owiny-Dollo, having been a former Museveni minister, has been a former Museveni defence lawyer and also we have seen pictures indicating that the Chief justice has been meeting with Gen Museveni regularly. We believe that within the law, that is wrong,”Bobi Wine said.
“Therefore, we want the Chief Justice not to be part of this hearing. Not just the Chief Justice, there are other justices in the Supreme Court like (Justice) Mike Chibita, who we all know was the private secretary for legal affairs in Museveni’s office for seven years. We also know that (Justice) Ezekiel Muhanguzi is a relative of Gen Eli Tumwine, a person that the national and international community has castigated for abusing human rights.”
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