Magistrate quits ‘yellow pigs’ case

Yellow painted pigs dumped at Parliament Avenue in Kampala early this year. PHOTO BY ABUBAKER LUBOWA

Kampala- City Hall Court Grade One Magistrate Beatrice Khainza has withdrawn from hearing a case in which two youth are charged with sneaking into Parliament two piglets painted yellow to protest high unemployment rates in the country.

Ms Khainza’s withdrawal from the case followed a May 26 complaint against her by one of the defence lawyers, Mr Isaac Ssemakadde Kimaze.

Mr Kimaze complained to Chief Justice Bart Katureebe, accusing the magistrate of bias.

He alleged that the magistrate approached one of the suspects; Mr Norman Tumuhimbise and demanded to know from him why they invited the press to cover their case.

In the same complaint, the magistrate had been accused of telling off Mr Tumuhimbise that because of the constant media coverage of their case, the same had raised concerns among stakeholders, including the Chief Justice whom she said had personally called and cautioned her to stop the press from covering the case.

Further in the lawyer’s complaint, he claimed Ms Khainza had boldly told his client that even if they bring media to cover their case, it would not stop his conviction with his co-accused Mr Robert Mayanja.

Buganda Road Court Chief Magistrate, Mr Jamson Karemani, confirmed that Khainza had stepped down from hearing the case.

Mr Karemani is also Ms Khainza’s immediate supervisor.
He said after a chat with the magistrate, it was agreed that she steps down from hearing the case and the file be reallocated to another magistrate.

This newspaper has learnt that the file case has been reallocated to Grade One Magistrate Moses Nabende.

“The file has been moved to another magistrate so that the litigants who were not comfortable with her handling their matter can have their fears put to rest,” Chief Magistrate Karemani told Sunday Monitor.

Mr Karemani said it’s normal for a judicial officer to step down from a case if one party feels uncomfortable with him/her handling the trial.

However, he added that the same judicial officer has liberty to refuse to step down if he/she feels the accusations have no merit.

The pigs case arose two years ago when Mr Tumuhumbise and Mr Mayanja allegedly sneaked into Parliament with the animals, a move that disrupted the House’s proceedings.