October 26, 2023
MUKONO, Uganda | The High Court in Mukono has ordered a fresh hearing in the ongoing Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) test legal battle involving city lawyer Hassan Male Mabirizi and his alleged siblings. This decision comes after Mukono grade one magistrate Paul Matyama had earlier ordered the parties to undergo DNA tests to determine their paternity in June of this year.
Following the magistrate’s ruling, Mabirizi’s supposed siblings, led by Musa Male, also known as Pastor Solomon Male, filed an appeal against the order. They argued that the court’s decision should not override their late father’s will. In response, Mabirizi filed a cross-appeal, seeking 500 million Ugandan shillings in general, aggravated, and exemplary damages from his presumed siblings. He accused them of unjustly refusing to participate in the DNA tests as directed by the lower court.
In a judgment delivered on Thursday, October 26, 2023, Mukono High Court Judge David Matovu reversed the lower court’s ruling. He noted that six of the respondents in the case had never been served with a notice of motion, as required by law, before the magistrate proceeded with the case. As a result, the judge declared all proceedings conducted after February 13, 2023, null and void, as they were conducted in the absence of these six respondents. He also set aside the previous ruling issued on June 5, 2023.
Matovu has directed the case to be heard afresh by a magistrate who will ensure that all parties are effectively served with court processes before proceeding. Shortly after the judgment, Mabirizi expressed his intention to appeal the decision.
Hassan Male Mabirizi initiated the case following the death of his presumed father, the late Mohamed Bazindule Lulibedda Mutumba, in June 2021. Upon Mutumba’s death, one of his widows, Hajjat Sarah Kizza, presented a will she claimed to have discovered in his office. In the will, Mabirizi was not mentioned, and he was subsequently excluded from inheriting any part of his presumed father’s estate. This led Mabirizi to challenge the validity of the will, asserting that it was a forgery.
The contested will also excluded Pastor Solomon Male from benefiting under the grounds that he had abandoned the Islamic religion. However, the children of Pastor Male were given a share of their grandfather’s estate, comprising a property in Nateete, Kampala. Pastor Male disputes Mabirizi’s claim that they are siblings, stating that Mabirizi was raised by his late father, Mohamed Bazindule Lulibedda Mutumba, as a companion to his less fortunate mother.
Pastor Male maintains that their father’s will is supreme, and a court order cannot override it. This case exemplifies the complex nature of legal battles that can ensue in inheritance and paternity disputes. The fresh hearing will hopefully provide clarity in this ongoing DNA test legal battle.
