By KT Reporter
Masaka High Court has upheld the censure of Tony Ssempijja as Masaka City Council Speaker.
High Court Judge Lawrence Tweyanze has dismissed the application for judicial review that Ssempijja filed to challenge the procedures under which councillors passed a vote of no confidence against him.
Ssempijja, who is the Masaka city councillor representing Kimanya-Kabonera division, was impeached in 2023 during an extraordinary council session presided over by the Minister of Local Government, Raphael Magyezi, also in the presence of the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Ben Kumumanya.
The councillors accused him of misusing his authority to suffocate free debate during council sittings, forgery and alteration of council records for selfish intentions, administrative misconduct and neglecting his parental responsibilities, hence casting the council in public disrepute.
But Ssempijja rushed to court to challenge his removal from office, arguing that the censure was not conducted within legally permissible processes.
He accused the Minister of bias and acting on unjustifiable rumours, thereby asking the court to set aside the decision, declare the censure illegal and order his reinstatement in office.
He alleged that, in addition to being deliberately denied ample time to respond to allegations levelled against him, the Minister breached the standard rules of procedure for removing a Speaker from office by receiving the notice of censure from the Mayor instead of the Clerk to Council.
However, the judge has ruled that the Ssempija did not provide substantive grounds to warrant both a review and cancellation of his censure.
The court indicates that it was established that upon receiving a notice for censure, the Minister of Local Government formally notified Ssempijja and advised him to reconcile with the council, but he adamantly ignored the advice, and councillors proceeded to vote him out of office.
The Judge also ruled that Ssempijja’s application for judicial review, which also sought for among other prayers, to block the Minister from calling for a meeting to conduct a censure and quashing the decision, was no longer permissible, because it was filed after the decision was already been taken by the council, which also followed the law.
“I therefore find that this Application is not amenable to judicial review, having been incompetently brought against the respondents,” the judgment reads in part, and the Court has dismissed the application with costs against Sempijja.
Achilles Mawanda, the current Masaka City Council Speaker, says the ruling was long-awaited, indicating that his predecessor was misguided to challenge a censure which was conducted in his presence-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
