Supreme Court to rule on age limit this Thursday

By Sania Babirye

The supreme court has set this Thursday to rule on the much awaiting presidential age limit petition.

On the 28 of March this year, one of the petitioners, Hassan Male Mabirizi the now famous Kampala city lawyer who has made a name for himself by challenging some of decisions made by cabinet and parliament revealed that he was no longer interested in the pending age limit judgement but only wants the chief justice Bart Katureebe who is head of the supreme court to explain to him and the country at large why the said judges have delayed to deliver the said judgement.

Mabirizi who is one of the appellant and always represents himself in his cases described the said judgement as an expired drug that can not cure anything problem that is currently affecting Ugandans but will only kill since its delivery has passed the mandatory 60 days within which the supreme court was meant to deliver it.

Mabirizi stated that he is no longer interested in the said pending judgement but only wants justice Katureebe to give him reasons why him and his other six judges he sits with on the bench have deliberately failed to deliver the judgement that should have been delivered by the 16th of March this year but 71 days gone, it still remains to be delivered.

He said that the judgement would have given him the next step to do including seeking more clear legal redress either in the International courts of Justice, the East African Community court and the African court of human rights which are much Higher international, continental and regional courts to determine the status of the rule of law in Uganda because the judges can not just sit in their offices pretending to be hearing cases yet they do not decide such cases in the mandatory period they do not also give the appellants the reasons why they have delayed to fully carry out their constitutional mandatory roles.

Mabirizi also claimed that he is not aware that Justice Katureebe is sick, and that even if he was indeed sick, this is not a reason to delay the delivering of the said judgement because other judges on the bench would still have delivered it.

Mabirizi further claimed that delayed judgement has denied him justice as stated in the National convention, the Est African Charter and East African Community which all emphasizes fair hearing and speedy trial, which he has been denied.

He accused the supreme court of denying them justice due to the delay while President Museveni is allegedly going ahead to declare his sole candidature in the coming 2021 general elections, as if no one is challenging his standing again.

Mabirizi explained that it is absurd that the reason they run to the supreme court is to prevent NRMs President Museveni from running again because he is not qualified but his party has used this loophole in delaying the delivered if the said judgement and declared him a sole candidate in the coming 2021 general elections while the judges are just looking on by failing to determine their issue on him being unqualified to stand again.

He said that it seems that the supreme court has already determined the appeal even without publicly delivering making it an expired judgement and that just like in Nigeria and Pakistan, an expired judgement is declared null and void since one of the reasons he went to the supreme court is to challenge a delayed judgement, the same court has also done.

This is after Mabirizi wrote a letter addressed to supreme court registrar and the seven Justices of the supreme court who had heard the appeal expressing his grievances over the delayed judgement .

He stated that he took his grievance for redress in the supreme court after the constitutional court allegedly delayed to deliver the judgement of the 2018 age limit petition that was held in Mbale.

The letter was also received by the supreme court registrar.