Magistrate loses bid to stop sexual abuse, fraud cases
What you need to know:
- High Court Judge Musa Ssekaana dismissed with costs Mr Ogwanga’s application reasoning that it was filed out of the stipulated time of three months as per filing judicial review applications.
Interdicted Mbarara Grade One Magistrate Belmos Opio Ogwang has lost a bid to stop a trial against him over alleged sexual harassment of a court staff, before the Judicial Service Commission (JSC).
High Court Judge Musa Ssekaana dismissed with costs Mr Ogwanga’s application reasoning that it was filed out of the stipulated time of three months as per filing judicial review applications.
The judge explained that Rule 5(1) of the Judicature (Judicial Review) Rules 2009 provides that; an application for judicial review shall be made promptly and in any event within three months from the date when the grounds of the application first arose, unless the court considers that there is good reason for extending the period within which the application shall be made.
“This court will not allow such a litigant to devise alternative procedures in order to circumvent the set procedure. He is only trying to access court through the window instead of the door that has been prescribed by the Constitution,” Justice Ssekaana ruled.
“The enforcement of Human Rights Act was not enacted to substitute a set procedure for challenging administrative action by ‘baptising’ such claims as enforcement of rights,” he added.
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Court reasoned that Mr Ogwanga wants to invoke the jurisdiction of a court, he should come to court at the earliest reasonably possible opportunity as the inordinate delay in making the application for judicial review will indeed be a ground for refusing to exercise such discretionary jurisdiction.
He further noted that Mr Ogwanga should have exhausted the available remedies provided under the Judicial Service Commission Act, which provides for an Appeal against the decision instead of rushing to court at every instance.
Mr Ogwanga was interdicted on April 2, 2015 by then Chief Registrar Courts of Judicature, Justice Paul Gadenya, to pave way for the JSC to probe into the alleged crime.
He petitioned the High Court in 2020 seeking to quash the proceedings against him on grounds that the Disciplinary Committee of the Judicial Service Commission has never concluded his matter and has kept him on interdiction for over eight years now which is illegal and a violation of the Public Service Standing Orders whose mandatory period for interdiction is not more than six months.
Mr Ogwanga had also noted that the complainant of the alleged sexual harassment voluntarily withdrew the complaint on August 11, 2015, after a reconciliatory meeting facilitated by religious leaders and the matter should have been closed from that day.
However, in their response, the Attorney General office while relying on the evidence of the Judicial Service Commission Secretary Ronald Ssekagya explained that Mr Ogwanga contributed a lot to the delay of his case as he was summoned several times to continue with his case but failed to turn up.
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Court further heard that whereas Mr Ogwanga had indicated that the complainant had withdrawn the case against him, it was not true as she stated while asked that the withdrawal was based on false premises that the Judiciary Internal Disciplinary Committee had advised she withdraws it.
