By Spy Uganda
Hours after Police arresting controversial lawyer Male Mabirizi who is going to spend 18months behind bars for abusing judges, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (CID) has summoned Issac Ssemakadde (also a lawyer) over alleged offensive communication against Justice Musa Ssekaana.
“The directorate of criminal investigations is conducting inquiries into alleged offensive communication to the prejudice of Hon. Justice Ssekaana Musa,” reads police summons adding;
”You are required to report to CID headquarters on 28/02/2022 at 1000hrs and you will particularly report to officer in charge of cyber Crime D/SSP Kayiza Henry who will guide you on what is required.”
According to reports, earlier this month Ssemakade wrote to the judicially to management, demanding for the record of proceedings of the recently concluded annual judges’ meeting in Kampala.
Ssemakadde, in his capacity as the executive director of Legal Brains Trust, in a February 7 letter to Chief Registrar, Ms Sarah Langa Siu, and the president of Uganda Judicial Officers Association, Justice Tadeo Asiimwe, sought to have the said proceedings for his next course of action.
At the conclusion of this year’s annual judges’ conference in Kampala on February 3, the judges jointly resolved not to entertain any form of cyber bullying by errant lawyers and court users as they go about adjudicating cases.
Lawyers Ssemakadde and Male Mabirizi were singled out as those involved in cyber bullying, a resolution that has not gone down well with the former.
“The attention of our executive director, Mr Isaac Ssemakkade, has been drawn to certain statements in the press attributed to some judges and justices who attended the above captioned conference. This is, therefore, to request for a report of the proceeding, minutes and/or resolutions of the 23rd annual judges conference,” Ssemakadde’s demand letter read.
The proposal to take action against lawyers Mabirizi and Ssemakadde was brought by Anti-Corruption judge Margaret Tibulya on the closing day of the judges’ conference.
“I propose that we pass a resolution against cyber harassment in regard to counsel Mabirizi and Ssemakadde. Once we don’t discuss this now, we shall miss out,” she said.
Justice Irene Mulyagonja of the Court of Appeal chipped in and said she was in support of Justice Tibulya’s stand.
“I think we resolved that we shall not tolerate any bullying, abuse of any kind from any kind of litigants or advocates even among ourselves. So judicial officers shall take action against cyber bullying by errant advocates and litigants,” Justice Mulyagonja said.
The panel of seven justices rejected his abusive defense, where he had referred to the justices as ‘a council of fools’, ‘incompetent’, ‘foolish’ among other words, and noted that in order to protect the rule of law in the country and their mandate to serve justice, as the judiciary, the unremorseful Ssebadduka needed to first serve the three years in jail.
Even when he was asked to defend himself for use of abusive language in his petition, Ssebadduka appeared in person before the justices led by the chief justice Alfonse Owiny Dollo and further abused them terribly. The justices including Stellah Arach Amoko, Faith Mwondha, Paul Mugamba, Ezekiel Muhanguzi, Percy Night Tuhaise and Mike Chibita simply looked on in surprise with no words until they made a decision to jail him. (Diazepam)
