By Halima Abdallah
Oct 8, 2003
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Majyambere says it was just Shs 100,000 KAMPALA - A High Court judge has rejected 'a soda' offered by a city tycoon whose cases he was presiding over. Justice James Ogoola yesterday said that Mr Muhammad Majyambere, offered him an envelope with the 'soda' sealed inside it. Apparently the 'soda' was in form of cash - just Shs 100,000 according to Majyambere - but the judge did not say how much money was inside the envelope as he never opened it. Justice Ogoola said all this in the courtroom - causing obvious embarrassment to Majyambere, who is also Djibouti's consular general to Uganda. His Excellency Majyambere offered the money to the judge on Thursday last week at the All Saints Church in Nakasero, Kampala, during a funeral service for Ogoola's mother-in-law. The judge kept the envelope sealed until yesterday when he called Majyambere's lawyers and the press in court to witness the dramatic hand over of the envelope. Ogoola said that Majyambere passed on the huge envelope during the funeral service through the judge's wife, whom the businessman had not even known or met before. Ogoola's wife lives in the United States of America, and had briefly flown back to Uganda to attend her mother's funeral. The judge said that the bigger envelope contained the usual condolence messages. He read it out before court. Majyambere seemed extremely uneasy as the judge made the stunning revelations. He stood and raised his hands several times - as if to say something. If the judge saw Majyambere's hands, he ignored him and went on to tell the whole story uninterrupted. Justice Ogoola said that there was a smaller envelope inside the big one with the words 'contribution for a soda' written on top. "I could not accept the small envelope, because I thought it was against my conscience and code of conduct. I accepted the condolence message. I called you [Majyambere] here to tell you that I did not accept the envelope," Ogoola said - looking straight into the embarrassed businessman's eyes. The judge was suspicious that the offer could be linked to the three cases he has been handling against Majyambere. Judge pulls out The judge has now pulled out of all three cases to avoid any risk of bias in his judgements. The cases against Majyambere were filed by Trust Bank and involve about Shs 200 million. After the revelation Ogoola handed over the 'soda' envelope to Majyambere's lawyers, Mr Augustine Semakula of Semakula & Co. Advocates and Fred Ntende from Ntende & Company Advocates. The small envelope was still unopened. The judge asked the lawyers to pass it over to their client. With that the judge, who must have scored a first in Uganda by publicly rejecting what could easily pass for a bribe, announced that he was pulling out of all the cases against Majyambere. "I am now pulling out of his cases. The file is going to be taken back to the Registrar for reallocation to another judge who will handle the cases afresh," Ogoola said.
The Monitor caught up with Majyambere later in the evening. Majyambere said by phone that he was surprised by the judge's allegations. I only made a funeral contribution like any other mourner that day, he said. "It was only Shs 100,000 for buying 10 crates of soda. There wasn't anything beyond that. How could I bribe a judge in church?" the businessman mused. That is one question Justice Ogoola might also still want answered even after pulling out of Majyambere's now controversial cases. The city tycoon told The Monitor that he had made another contribution into the offertory bag as it passed around because, "it is clumsy to attend a funeral and not make any contribution". Majyambere said a friend introduced him to the dead woman way back in 1994, although the judge never knew about it. As such, Majyambere said, he needed no invitation to the funeral of a friend. |
© 2003 The Monitor Publications
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