Justice Ssekaana refuses to recuse self from torture case against deputy speaker Among

Justice Musa Ssekaana has refused to recuse himself from handling the case in which deputy Speaker of Parliament was sued by a real estate broker accusing her of masterminding his arrest and subsequent torture.

Last year, Francis Matovu also known as Butto,a broker sued  Among jointly with the Attorney General after he was allegedly arrested on November, 9, 2021 by security personnel  and later tortured.

He says he was forcefully grabbed, assaulted and his money totaling to $27000 taken by security operatives.

However, Butto last month wrote to the Civil Division of the High Court seeking to have Justice Ssekaana recuse himself from handling his case citing bias by the judge.

“It has been brought to my attention by a number of people that the trial judge is a good friend to the first respondent (Anita Among) and different meetings and discussions have been held over the same case,” he said in the letter.

On Monday, when the case came up Justice Ssekaana said he could not recuse himself from the matter since there are not aspects of bias shown that would require him to step down from the case.

The judge noted that he as a judicial officer, he swore an oath that he could not go against, adding that he will handle the matter on merit.

The matter

During the Monday proceedings, the Attorney General’s lawyers asked court for one week to be able to file their reply in the matter.

The trial judge consequently allowed them more time and adjourned the matter to March, 1, 2022 to be able to hear the case.

In the case, the property broker wants court to declare that his arrest and subsequent torture were illegal.

He also wants court to declare that his detention beyond the mandatory 48 hours was illegal and violated his rights.