The other plaintiffs included Andrew Lakoich Abe of Houston, Texas. Kwesiga who was all smiles after the verdict, saying, “It is gratifying when what you have been saying for six years is reaffirmed by the courts.”
He quoted Martin Luther King Junior, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.” It was a dramatic end to the five-year trial, which saw Musoke listed in court documents, as one of the petitioners, a witness, and an attorney, failing to attend the final ruling.
Others conspicuously absent were Musoke’s attorney Godfrey Kazibwe Zziwa, the proprietor of the Law Office of Godfrey K. Zziwa located in Waltham, Massachusetts. Sensing imminent defeat, Musoke had filed an appeal on July 24, 2019 seeking to delay the court’s ruling. Judge Howe took less than 24 hours to throw out that appeal.
Musoke filed another appeal late on July 26, 2019 to the Appellate Court in yet another attempt to stop the court ruling. That appeal was filed too late, ending Musoke’s tireless and persistent efforts to prolong the case beyond reason. In delivering her 30-minute verdict, Judge Howe did something rare – she said she was going to speak on the record.
Judge Howe then proceeded to castigate Musoke for his failure to show up in court on several occasions and for filing motion after motion in a clear attempt to unnecessarily prolong the case – including refilling motions that court had previously denied throughout. This was an egregious abuse of the court system by Musoke, who came across as pursuing a relentless and personal vendetta against the respondents named in the case.
Not spared either were UNAA’s members, who Musoke described in court documents submitted this month, as being mostly indigent and of undocumented immigration status. Coming at a time when the current US administration is stepping up efforts to deport persons perceived as undocumented; this action by Musoke was particularly callous and reckless.
According to Monday Atigo, the outgoing president who was also a defendant, Musoke who stood and lost the election in 2013 wanted to take the association hostage because he is a lawyer. “He filed a bogus case because of selfish interests…”.
“UNAA shouldn’t be in courts because we are losing a lot of resources yet we are supposed to be helping people here and back home,” said Atigo. Musoke couldn’t be reached for interview about his next course of action after the verdict. His known phone was off.
The writer is in the running for UNAA executive secretary