Barely a week after the Court of Appeal overturned an order requesting the Kabaka of Buganda, Ronald Muwenda Mutebi to produce bank statements of all the money that the kingdom has collected from people living on its land, city lawyer Male Mabirizi has filed a notice of motion to challenge the decision.
Last year, High Court’s Justice Patricia Basaza ordered the Kabaka to present all particulars in regards the kingdom’s accounts in Stanbic bank(Forest Mall Branch)and Bank of Africa (Main Branch) in the names of Buganda Land Board and the kingdom’s mailo land returned by the central government to Mabirizi who is challenging the decision to have all his subjects living on the kingdom land register their plots at a fee.
However on Monday, three justices including Ezekiel Muhanguzi, Fredrick Egonda Ntende and Hellen Obura of the Court of Appeal in a judgment read by the court’s deputy registrar Agnes Nkonge ruled that the orders to Kabaka were done erroneously by the High Court.
In his notice of Appeal, Mabirizi faults the three judges for misapplying principles relating to setting aside a discretionary decision by another court.
“The judges failed in their duty as a first appellate court to properly evaluate the material before them and hence reached wrong conclusions in setting aside the ruling of the judge,”Mabirizi says in his notice of appeal.
In their ruling, the three justices of the Court of Appeal said that Kabaka is not a government or public authority who wields governmental powers and in acting out of the actions complained of(by Mabirizi), there was no assertion that he(Kabaka) is exercising governmental authority.
The judges ruled that since the matter does not qualify as a public law action, it cannot be maintained and therefore the application for disclosure and inspection cannot be necessary.
However, in his notice of appeal, Mabirizi faulted the court for determining a matter they had not heard, noting that they were only required on decide on order requiring the Kabaka to produce bank statements.
“The court made a decision that the main case pending before the High Court, Misc Cause No.102 of 2016 is not tenable, which did not arise out of the grounds of appeal presented by the appellant,”Mabirizi notes.
“The court deviated from the issues framed by the parties and proceeded on their own voyage.”
He also faults the court for preempting the outcome of the High Court against the Kabaka which had not presented before it and it still pending in the lower court.
Mabirizi now wants the decision of the Court of Appeal set aside by the Supreme Court.