While reading the detailed ruling for refusing to recuse himself from the petition, Justice Alfonse Owiny-Dollo said that Kyagulanyi’s bias claims are a mere talk and not based on facts.
The Chief Justice, Alfonse Owiny-Dollo has said bias allegations imposed on him in ruling the Presidential election petition filed by National Unity Platform Robert Kyagulanyi, alias Bobi Wine are a mere talk but not justified on proof.
Earlier on, Kyagulanyi had filed his petition to the Supreme Court challenging President Museveni’s victory in the just-concluded elections.
However moments after, he withdrew his petition citing biased judgement. The NUP leader noted with concern that three judges on the panel of nine that were chosen to hear out his case had conflicts of interest which did not guarantee that he would attain a fair hearing.
The NUP leader, in particular, pinpointed three judges including Chief Justice Owiny-Dollo, Justice Mike Chibita and Ezekiel Muhanguzi whom he said has a strong relationship with Gen Elly Tumwine the current security minister.
“We want to put the Supreme Court on notice that if this persists, we are not going to be part of that mockery, the next step is to take the matter to the public court,” Kyagulanyi said.
“We understand that Chief Justice Owiny-Dollo has close political contact with President Kaguta Museveni having been the president’s defence lawyer in 2006. Mike Chibita, another judge on the panel, was President Museveni’s private secretary on legal affairs for seven years and Ezekiel Muhanguzi is a relative to Gen Elly Tumwine who is the security minister.”
However, while reading the detailed ruling for refusing to recuse himself from the petition, Dollo said that Kyagulanyi’s claims are mere talk and not based on facts.
CJ Dollo who admitted having worked closely with Museveni in handling a case 15 years ago said that this does not justify that he was ready to work in the president’s favour or wishes.
He said judges are part of any given society and have at one time worked or associated with various members of the society.
“As such, any person asking a judge for recusal must do more than merely allege bias. There must be evidence to satisfy the test for bias. I find that I was under no duty to disclose my status as a former attorney of the first respondent (Museveni) because it is already in the public domain in regards the appointment process,” Justice Dollo said
“When a person seeks the recusal of a judicial officer or any person exercising quasi-judicial functions, the objector must pass the prerequisite standard test of recusal; otherwise, litigants would abuse the provision for recusal and turn it into an avenue for determining or choosing their preferred arbiters in their respective cases.”
