Buganda Kingdom through the Minister in Charge of the Kingdom Parliament issues and special assignments in Premier’s Office Owekitiibwa Noah Kiyimba has updated the world on King Ronald Muwenda Mutebi’s sickness.

For weeks now, Buganda Kingdom administration led by Premier Charles Peter Mayiga has been under pressure from people on social media who demanded to see their King.

Others claim that the King has returned from abroad where he had gone to receive further medical attention but Mayiga doesn’t want him to appear before the public.

However, responding to the said allegation, Kiyimba on behalf of Owekitiibwa Israel Kitooke Kazibwe the Kingdom Information and Mobilization minister explained that King Ronnie is still abroad receiving medical care and he will address the public at the right time following the advice of his doctors.

“You know, the King himself warned us concerning people who claim they love the Kingdom so much. So we must be careful with such people because they are the ones on social media making such allegation,” Kiyimba said.

Mayiga informed the Kingdom that King Ronnie traveled abroad in March 2024 and it is the reason why he missed his 69^th birthday run and other Kingdom activities including the Buganda Kingdom clan football tournament.

However, there are voices within the Mengo establishment claiming that last week, Kabaka Mutebi returned back into the country and he is resting at his Banda palace.

King Ronnie’s health troubles started in 2020, and he was rushed to Kenya secretly.

Mayiga was forced to come out and clear the air. He told Baganda that their King was suffering from an allergy.

The King himself also blasted people for pronouncing him dead on social media and assured them that he is still around.

President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni also intervened and King Ronnie was rushed to German to meet the specialized doctors who established that he is suffering from cancer.

Medical specialists from Kenya, Uganda, German, India, United Kingdom are all monitoring the King’s health condition.

Mayiga recently assured Baganda that everything is under control.

By Hadijjah Namagembe

Security at Wandegeya based Crimes War Division of the High Court has been beefed up after Justice Suzan Okalany recused herself from the pre-trail of the suspected Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) Central Regional Commander Abdallah Musa Kabanda.

Justice Okalany revealed that she cannot preside over a matter in which Kabanda is involved. He further explained that she will be exposing her biases against him because they have their personal issues.

“Kabanda come here, look me straight in the eyes, don’t be shy, I’m telling you, I don’t have any personal issue with you but you know our issue, so I have to recuse myself from your matter, thank you,” Justice Okalany said.

She promised Kabanda that she is going to talk to Justice Andrew Bashaija the head of the Division and the Division Deputy Registrar to make sure that his trial is given priority and heard quickly so that he gets justice.

Justice Okalany’s troubles with Kabanda started in 2015 after the gruesome murder of Joan Namazzi Kagezi who was leading the prosecution of the 2010 bomb suspects, she was replaced with Okalany to boast the remaining prosecution team that included Lino Anguzu and Thomas Jatiko.

During the trial, Kabanda was arrested when he was recording the number plates of the cars used by prosecutors.

However, he was later released.

Justice Okalany said that she cannot sit in a matter where a person was imprisoned for threatening her life.

Kabanda was arrested in 2022 on allegations of recruiting and training young children into ADF from Wakiso district and Luwero.

The judge’s decision comes days after tough security conditions were issued to Court users to access the Court premises.

For any person to be allowed to enter court, they have to first register so that they are given visitor’s card and his movements monitored.

” Security has to be tight, we are handling serious criminals, this is a court handling terrorism charges so we must protect our court staff,” a security personal at Crimes War Division told Grapevine.

He added that security is going to be tightened day by day until next year when they plan to kick off the trial against ADF founding commander Sheikh Jamil Mukulu Kyagulanyi.

Mukulu’s trial is expected to kick off immediately after the trial of the Lord Resistance Army (LRA) Commander Thomas Kwoyero.

By Hadijjah Namagembe

Muwema & Company Advocates owned by controversial city lawyer Fred Muwenda has floored Chinese Construction Firm in the Shs6bn legal battle.

Muwema’s law firm through their lawyers led by Mulema Mukasa of M/s KSMO Advocates ran to Court seeking a declaration directing Chinese Construction firm China Railway No.3 Engineering Group of Companies Limited to pay legal fees for representing them in several matters.

In an affidavit sworn by Robert Friday Kagoro,Muwema and team revealed that in 2021, his law firm received instructions from the Chinese firm to pursue a procurement review of the decision of the Administrative Unit of Hoima Town Council and the Public Procurement Disposal Authority (PPDA) Appeals Tribunal for construction of roads in the municipalities of Kasese, Hoima and Fort portal where they were declared unsuccessful bidder.

He explained to Court that even though his law firm pursued the instructions, prepared and filed the application for administrative review of the evaluation process on behalf of the Chinese firm and lost the application, they were instructed by the same firm to challenge the decision of the Town Clerk to PPDA. But they again lost until they were instructed to withdraw the appeal.

Kagoro stated that after withdrawing the appeal, his law firm wrote to the Chinese firm demanding for a payment of Shs6bn as contained in the itemized advocate-client bill of costs as fees for legal services.

The Chinese firm failed to pay the monies protesting that they never instructed the law firm to represent them in the said legal matters through an affidavit sworn by Wang Junbo the managing director of the Ugandan branch.

He added that after losing the bidding process, the firm released Shs150m to Consultants namely Eng. Joseph Mbazzi and Eng. Martin Wanda who were the ones to pay the legal fees to the lawyers since they are the ones who hired the lawyers to provide the legal expertise.

Wang told Court that the only agreement his firm entered in with the law firm was during the construction of Kanoni-Sembabule Villa Maria Road and they were supposed to pay them only Shs3m not Shs6bn as they claim.

However, in his affidavit, Mbazzi told Court that the Shs150m paid by the Chinese Firm to them was not part of the legal fees that was supposed to be paid to lawyers.

He further revealed that when they were signing the Consultancy agreement, it was agreed that the Chinese Firm pays for legal fees.

In his determination, Justice Wamala explained that it is clear in law that a duly authorized agent can issue instructions to an advocate.

He added that where an agent acts on behalf of a disclosed principal, the agent does not attract personal liability unless exceptional circumstances are raised.

He however disclosed that when it comes to the issue before him, there was no exceptional circumstances directing the Chinese company to pay the costs.

The judge further stated that the law firm has satisfied him and it is entitled to being granted leave to have their advocate-client bill of costs of Shs6bn taxed by the tax master of the Court.

The judge also directed the Chinese firm to pay the costs of the said application.

By Sengooba Alirabaki