Buganda Road Chief Magistrate Ritah Kidasa Neumbe has dismissed a third application seeking her recusal from presiding over a criminal case against lawyer Male Mabirizi. She ruled that the allegations of bias and misconduct against her were speculative and unsupported by evidence.
Mabirizi had argued that the magistrate should step aside because she is allegedly a witness in proceedings before the East African Court of Justice, acted under the instructions of the complainant, failed to respond to his earlier applications, and made inappropriate remarks during court proceedings.
The application stems from criminal charges accusing Mabirizi of using his TikTok account, @male.mabirizi, to publish false statements about Chief Justice Alfonse Owiny-Dollo Zeija, describing him as a conman, fraudster, corrupt official, “court file grabber,” and alleging that he sold property to bribe his way into becoming Principal Judge. The prosecution contends that the statements were intended to ridicule, demean, and degrade the Chief Justice.
The State further alleges that Mabirizi made similar defamatory remarks against Constitutional Court Justice Musa Ssekaana, accusing him of being a conman and fraudster with the intention of ridiculing and degrading him.
When he was first arraigned, Mabirizi declined to take a plea, citing personal objections to the presiding magistrate. He argued that Chief Magistrate Neumbe is married to New Vision Chief Executive Officer Don Wanyama, whom he claims has oppressed him, and also noted that Chief of Defence Forces Gen. Muhoozi Kainerugaba, another person he considers an oppressor, attended their wedding.
However, in her ruling, delivered on Friday, Neumbe found that Mabirizi had failed to meet the legal threshold for judicial recusal under the Constitution (Recusal of Judicial Officers) (Practice) Directions, 2019.
She held that the test for judicial recusal is objective and depends on whether a reasonable and informed observer would conclude that there is a real likelihood of bias, rather than on the subjective perceptions of a litigant.
She cited several Supreme Court decisions, including Male Mabirizi v. Kabaka of Buganda, emphasizing that allegations of bias must be supported by cogent evidence and cannot be founded on conjecture or dissatisfaction with judicial decisions.
The Chief Magistrate also rejected Mabirizi’s argument that pending civil and criminal proceedings against her justified her recusal. She ruled that litigants cannot be allowed to choose judicial officers by filing collateral proceedings against them, warning that such a practice would undermine judicial independence and encourage forum shopping. Mabirizi has since instituted criminal proceedings against the magistrate.
Addressing allegations that she had acted dishonestly and concealed facts in affidavits, Neumbe found that Mabirizi had presented no evidence to support the claims. She stressed that serious allegations against judicial officers require clear and convincing proof.
The magistrate further observed that the court record showed all applications filed by Mabirizi had been duly considered and ruled upon, adding that disagreement with judicial decisions does not amount to bias or misconduct.
Concluding that the grounds advanced in the latest application were speculative, self-created, and unsupported by evidence, Neumbe dismissed the third recusal application and directed that the criminal trial should proceed without further delay.
The ruling came on the same day Neumbe also dismissed Mabirizi’s second recusal application, in which he had similarly alleged bias arising from pending legal proceedings against the magistrate and accused her of dishonesty in handling the case.
Meanwhile, Mabirizi also applied for mandatory bail. State Prosecutor Allan Mucunguzi asked the court for more time to file a response to the application. The court granted the request and adjourned the matter to July 10, 2026, when the prosecution is expected to respond to the mandatory bail application-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
