A lawyer has lost his bid to block depositing a total of Ushs500m before a judge can attend to a case in which he accuses Kabaka Ronald Muwenda Mutebi 11 of collecting rent (Busuulu) from people using his (Kabaka’s) land.
The Kabaka asked Justice Stephen Musota not to proceed and hear the case unless the lawyer deposits the money in court.
The king’s contention was that his accuser, Male Mabirizi Kiwanuka looked destined to lose the case yet he didn’t look like a man with the means to compensate the Kabaka for wasting his time and resources while defending the lawsuit.
Mabirizi protested paying the huge sums in security for costs. He said by sanctioning the same, court would be locking out people of less means from accessing it for justice.
But the king said the case was involving and that he had to use large sums of money to defend which he was likely to lose at the end of the day because Mabirizi is not one to be trusted to refund what the Kabaka would have spent.
In the end, Justice Musota ruled in favor of the king. Mabirizi protested the ruling right away and asked for permission to appeal. Musota granted his wish.
