Mukono Court To Hear Case Of UCU Expelled Students During Court Vacation

Yasin Sentumbwe and Simon Semuwemba, the two students who sued Uganda Christian University (UCU) for expelling them last year for offering leadership to a demonstration at the university have applied to the High Court Mukono to have their matter to be considered as one of urgency.

The case file was on the 4^th of July transferred from the Jinja High Court registry to Mukono. In an internal memo Campus Bee has received and read, the Hon. Lady Justice Eve Luswata from Jinja who was working on their case, has stepped down from hearing the case after she resolved all the preliminary matters that were raised and asked that the Jinja registry transfer the case to Mukono.

She further adds that “the cause of action falls within the jurisdiction of the Mukono High Court circuit” to explain the reason why the case is changing courts.

The two students then, on the 11^th of July applied to the Mukono High Court to have the case granted a certificate of urgency so that it may be heard even during the court vacation. In the Uganda judicial system, from the date of 15^th July to 15^th of August and 23^rd December to 7^th January, the courts go through a stage usually called the “Court Vacation” that runs a span of 30 days where the courts during this time only hear criminal cases and a few civil cases that have with them attached a certificate of urgency that is granted after the parties have applied to court for it.

The applicants, whose case was set to be heard on the 17^th July, applied to have their case considered as one of urgency that should proceed even during the vacation period so that justice is not delayed for the expelled students.

Paragraph 3 of the application for the certificate of urgency reads that “…the matter has suffered from an unusually long delay before hearing, contrary to the principle that judicial review cases should be conducted expeditiously.”

In the session on Monday, the court allowed to have the case heard during the court vacation and set the dates 25^th and 26^th July as the new dates to hear the case in Mukono Court.

The respondent UCU was not present in court to raise any objection to the application for urgency and courts proceeded ex parte.