The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Mbale, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Lawyer Male Mabirizi has asked Buganda Road Magistrates court not to allow the Directorate of Public Prosecutions-DPP to take over the case in which he is accusing the National Unity Platform leader Robert Kyagulanyi of giving false information about his age.
Mabirizi accuses Kyagulanyi who is also the Kyadondo East MP for lying to the Clerk to Parliament that he was born in 1982 yet evidence indicates that it was 1980. He is also accused of lying about his age to the passport officer at the Ministry of Internal Affairs in 2000 when he was acquiring his passport.
On Thursday, both parties appeared before the Grade One Senior Magistrate Stella Maris Amabalis for the mentioning of the case.
However, Mabirizi first asked the court to issue criminal summons to Kyagulanyi because he had not appeared physically in court.
But, the prosecution led by State Attorney Peter Mugisha objected to this citing that the evidence on court record indicates that Kyagulanyi who was not present was not served with documents to show that his case was coming up for hearing.
Mugisha also later asked the court to allow the office of the DPP to take over the criminal proceedings. He added that Mabirizi doesn’t have proof from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Parliament to show that Kyagulanyi had lied to them about his age.
Mugisha asked the court to allow the DPP to take over the case and order Mabirizi to furnish their office with necessary information and evidence to enable them to take over the case.
But Mabirizi objected saying that he is worried because the case may flop and that the State Attorneys who were in court did not have Instructions from the DPP to take over the matter.
He cited the case that was filed against the former Inspector General of Police Kale Kayihura by private lawyers in 2016 accusing him of brutality against former Forum for Democratic Change-FDC President, Kizza Besigye where the DPP formerly gave instructions to the State Attorneys to take over the matter.
The magistrate has fixed September 28, 2020, for her ruling on the matter.
Mabirizi’s decision to petition court started after information on the parliament website indicated that Kyagulanyi was born in 1982, completed primary level of education at nine years, lower secondary at 13 years and advanced level at 16.
Mabirizi doubted whether Kyagulanyi studied primary one when he was two years old. Mabirizi later managed to get documents also with discrepancies thus petitioning the court.
Kyagulanyi is expected to appear in Wakiso Magistrates court next week in a related case where Mabirizi accuses him of obtaining registration by false pretence. This is after he allegedly deceived Wakiso district returning officer who nominated him in the Kyadondo East by-election that he was 35 years old whereas not.
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