The High Court in Mukono has ruled for a fresh hearing of the legal dispute involving lawyer Hassan Male Mabirizi and his alleged siblings in a Deoxyribonucleic Acid (DNA) test case. In June, a Mukono grade one magistrate had ordered Mabirizi and his supposed siblings to undergo DNA tests to determine their paternity. However, this decision was met with appeals and cross-appeals, with Mabirizi seeking monetary damages from his presumed siblings for not complying with the DNA test directive.
In a recent judgment issued on October 26, 2023, Mukono High Court Judge David Matovu declared the previous proceedings null and void due to a failure to serve court documents to all parties involved. The judge stated that the magistrate had erred in forcing six of the respondents to undergo a DNA paternity test without proper legal procedures. Consequently, the ruling from June 5, 2023, was set aside.
Judge Matovu has instructed that the case be reevaluated by a magistrate who must ensure that all parties are appropriately served with court documents before proceeding. Mabirizi has expressed his intention to appeal the decision.
Background:
Mabirizi initiated the case after the death of his presumed father, Mohamed Bazindule Lulibedda Mutumba, who passed away in June 2021. Mutumba’s burial was followed by the presentation of a disputed Will by one of his widows, Hajjat Sarah Kizza, claiming that Mabirizi was not mentioned in the Will and thus ineligible to receive a share of his presumed father’s estate. Mabirizi contested the Will’s validity, asserting it was a forgery.
In this contested Will, Pastor Male was also denied a benefit because he renounced the Islamic religion, while Mutumba’s other children were given a share of his estate. As a result, Mabirizi contested the distribution of Mutumba’s estate, leading to a legal battle to determine his paternity through a DNA test.
However, Pastor Male and other siblings have resisted the DNA test, claiming that their father’s Will is paramount and that a court order cannot supersede it.
