High Court Judge Simon Peter Kinobe has rejected a request to withdraw from proceedings arising from an election petition involving Budiope East MP Moses Magogo, saying alleged errors in an earlier judgment do not, by themselves, justify recusal.
High Court Civil Division Judge Simon Peter Kinobe has declined to recuse himself from an application seeking a review of an election petition involving Budiope East MP Moses Magogo, ruling that the applicant had not established sufficient grounds to warrant his withdrawal.
The decision was made in Miscellaneous Application No. P0625 of 2026, arising from an election dispute involving Daniel Mulirire, the Electoral Commission, Ibrahim Yeko and Magogo, who represents Budiope East Constituency in Buyende District.
The applicant’s lawyer argued that there was a reasonable fear of a miscarriage of justice, citing alleged errors in the judge’s earlier judgment. The opposing counsel maintained that an application for review should ordinarily be heard by the same court and judge who delivered the original decision, asking the court to dismiss the recusal application for lack of merit.
Justice Kinobe said the applicant had not established any of the grounds for recusal under the applicable rules, including personal interest in the matter, relationships with interested parties, prior involvement, personal knowledge of relevant facts, inappropriate conduct or actual or apparent bias.
“In summation, you have not raised grounds for my recusal,” Justice Kinobe told the parties, adding that he would issue a formal written ruling explaining his decision.
The judge rejected the argument that alleged errors in his earlier judgment were sufficient grounds for recusal, saying disagreement with a judicial decision did not automatically require a judge to withdraw from a case.
“You cannot say because I wrote the right judgment, that the first judgment that you claim is bad … that is not a ground for me to recuse myself,” he said.
Justice Kinobe explained that review proceedings allow courts to examine alleged errors in their own decisions without automatically requiring a different judge to take over the matter.
“Our fidelity is not to our decisions. Our fidelity is not to the parties. We don’t care a lot about you. Our fidelity is to the law and the facts,” he said.
To illustrate his point, the judge recounted an incident early in his judicial career when he discovered an error in a ruling concerning the requirement for a record of proceedings in a High Court appeal.
He said he revisited the decision after recognising the mistake.
“I actually recalled that matter myself. The lawyers did. They were there sulking in their corner. They did not know. After reading, I realized I had made a mistake. I called my own judgment and reviewed it,” Justice Kinobe said.
The judge maintained that the applicant’s concerns about the earlier judgment did not establish a reasonable basis for his recusal.
“I will give you a formal ruling. I will upload it online. It is for the public,” he said.
Justice Kinobe’s decision means he will not withdraw on the grounds advanced in the recusal application. The detailed reasons are expected in the written ruling.
The proceedings concern an election petition involving Magogo’s election as MP for Budiope East Constituency in Buyende District.