In his July 8th letter, Katureebe informs Murangira that he has received a complaint in, which adverse comments or allegations have been made against him. ‘Please give me your responses on the allegations against you so as to enable me respond to the complaints’, reads Katureebe’s letter in part.
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Chief Justice's letter to the Mubende Resident Judge Joseph Murangira
The Chief Justice, Bart
Katureebe has tasked Justice Joseph Murangira to respond to the allegations of
bias leveled against him by more than 3000 people evicted from their homes in
Mubende district.
In his July 8th letter,
Katureebe informs Murangira that he has received
a complaint in, which adverse comments or allegations have been made against
him. ‘Please give me your responses on the allegations against you
so as to enable me respond to the complaints’, reads Katureebe’s letter in
part.
The letter is in
response to a July 4th petition by more than 3000 evicted from Kambuye,
Kyabaana, Kikoono, Lwensanga and Kanseera villages in Mubende District asking
Katureebe to remove Murangira from their matter, which is before Mubende High
court.
Through their lawyer, Eron Kiiza the petitioned asked the Chief Justice to
reallocate their matter to a different judge, saying Murangira had taken sides
with their tormentors including businessman, George
Kaweesi, his manager Francis Kyeyune, Mubende District Police Commander, Martin
Okoyo and the Attorney General.
In
their petition, the complainants also noted that Justice
Murangira is handling another criminal matter involving some of them charged
with murdering a UPDF soldier, Yunus Tabu one those involved in their eviction.
Trouble for Justice
Murangira started when he ordered the petitioners to file their submissions
before completing pleadings and conferencing in the land dispute. The petitioners noted that the Judge’s actions were strange
and that he was rushing justice.
Details of the case
The
affected people were evicted from a piece of land measuring 322.5 hectares on October 9th, 2018 on the
orders of George Kaweesa who claims ownership. Most of the evictees were resettled
on the contentious land in 2002 following their eviction from the land occupied
by Kaweri Coffee Plantation Limited, which belongs to Neumann Gruppe, a Germany
coffee firm.
In 2013, High Court awarded the affected people Shillings 37 billion
wrongful eviction from their land without adequate compensation. This
is not the first time the Chief Justice Katureebe is raising concern about
Murangira’s conduct.
In 2016, Justice Katureebe ordered the Judicial
Service Commission to investigate Murangira for allegedly causing the disappearance
of a criminal court file for eight years.
