Male Mabirizi Kiwanuka is a Ugandan lawyer, political activist and a senior member of Uganda Law Society known for challenging the 2017/2018 constitutional amendment (the Constitution (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill) that removed the 75-year age cap for presidential candidates. This amendment enabled President Yoweri Museveni (born 1944) to remain eligible for office. Mabirizi challenged this in the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court, and subsequently the East African Court of Justice.
Male Mabirizi was born in Uganda. He studied law and qualified as an advocate of the High Court of Uganda. Publicly available information about his early life and family background is limited.
Legal career
Mabirizi is widely recognized for filing numerous cases challenging decisions made by government institutions and political leaders. He often represents himself in court and has submitted petitions on matters relating to constitutional interpretation, electoral processes, and public accountability.
He gained national attention for challenging the 2017/2018 constitutional amendment (the Constitution (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill) that removed the 75-year age cap for presidential candidates. This amendment enabled President Yoweri Museveni (born 1944) to remain eligible for office. Mabirizi challenged this in the Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court, and subsequently the East African Court of Justice. He has also filed cases questioning the academic qualifications and eligibility of several politicians, including opposition leader Robert Kyagulanyi.
Legal disputes and sanctions
Throughout his career, Mabirizi has faced disciplinary proceedings, contempt of court charges, and temporary restrictions related to his conduct in court. Some of his petitions have been dismissed, while others have contributed to public debate on constitutional governance and judicial accountability in Uganda.
Public image
Mabirizi is often described as an activist lawyer due to his assertive litigation strategy and frequent engagement in politically sensitive matters. Supporters regard him as a defender of constitutionalism and the rule of law, while critics argue that some of his actions are politically motivated or disruptive. [1][2]
Personal and Educational Background
He was born in Lugazi in 1987 to Mohammad Mutumba, and his mother was Ndwaddewazzibwa Mastula. He studied primary school at Nkokonjeru Muslim. He went to Crane High Secondary School for an "Ordinary" level, and to Kawempe Muslim School for an "Advanced" level. He pursued a bachelor of Law from Makerere University.[3]
Notable lawsuits
Male Mabirizi filed for an arrest of Aloysius Bugingo at the chief magistrate court of Entebbe court, his second wife Susan Makula Nantaba, and his escorts who attended his customary marriage ceremony with allegations that he was still legally married to his former wife Teddy Bujjingo with whom he has four children and his marriage to another woman was illegal, an abomination, and an act of bigamy that amounts to five years of imprisonment.[4]
Male in November 2023 dragged Nadiope, the BusogaKing to the Grade one magistrate court in Jinja over his marriage with Jovia Mutesi over allegations that his marriage to the wife was illegal alleging that the king had previously married a woman called Alison Anna in December 2016 in England on contract. He, however, lost the court case.[5][6][7][8][9]
In 2017, Mabirizi sued the Kabaka of Buganda, Ronald Muwenda Mutebi in the Ugandan constitutional court on allegations that he took Mailo land in Buganda through mass stellers' registration in his name, and collected ground rent. In 2022, he reignited the court case against the Kabaka and the Buganda Land Board when he submitted a petition seeking to block the Kabaka from conducting an activity where he instructed all Mailo land owners to register their land ownership names in the name, and collected 10% from the sales Mailo land by the owners.[10][11][12]
Male Mabirizi in 2018 was denied a petition against the Ugandan constitutional court's move to uphold the age limit amendment bill which indicated minimum and maximum term limits for politicians.[1][13] However, his petition was denied.[14]
He challenged the documents of Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu aka Bobi Wine including his national Identification, passport, and academic documents when he wrote to the Ugandan Electoral Commission to verify from different significant sources his credentials ahead of his contest for Ugandan president in 2021.[1][15] According to section 4 (3) (c) of the Parliamentary Elections Act, 2005, a person's qualification to be a Ugandan parliamentarian is based on A-level education as the minimum education level, thus Mabirizi wanted to confirm that Bobi Wine qualifies.[16] In June 2021, he again ordered for Rober Kyagulanyi to answer a case on the submission of false documents about his registration at Makerere University.[17]
Arrest
Mabirizi was arrested in February 2022 by a Ugandan court Judge Musa Ssekaana of the Ugandan High Court Civil Division on his social media of being biased and not competent enough to handle just a mere family court case and not qualified for any national award related to his position as a judge. This led to his sentence to Luzira Maximum Security Prison in Uganda for 18 months.[18][19][20][21][22]
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