Arua High Court Dismisses with Costs, a Case Filed Against Maracha District Engineer Ezati Timothy Maluma.
ARUA. The High Court of Arua has dismissed with costs a case of defamation filed by Dr. Ronald Miria Ocatre, a staff of Ministry of Health in Kampala against his former workmate, Eng. Timothy Malumah Ezati, the Maracha district Engineer and one other person identified as Mikeila Moseka.
In the civil suit number 0004 of 2022, Ocatre alleged that on or about the months of March to April, 2021, Ezati and Moseka without any colour of right and justification made and issued numerous spiteful, untrue and defamatory
statements against him on the allegation that he (Ocatre) wanted to hire Moseka to kill Ezati Timothy.
Ocatre further stated in his suit that police investigated the allegations and the same were found to be false, a reason he took the matter to court.
But in his defence, Ezati said his woes with Ocatre who worked for Maracha district as a Senior Health Educator and acting District Health Officer (DHO) from 2010 to 2013 started when he (Ocatre) went back to school.
That while at school, the district recruited a substantive DHO of which Ocatre blamed him for the recruitment of the DHO, an office he allegedly said should have been ring-fenced for him.
Ezati further told court that the climax of Ocatre’s war against him was in March 2021 when he (Ocatre) and a one Anbindua Juma convened a meeting with Moseka at Maracha Hospital restaurant and in the said meeting, Ocatre asked Moseka to kill him to wit Moseka refused and instead reported the threat to him (Ezati).
Ezati then reported the death threats to the DISO and RDC of Maracha district who advised him to report the threats to the police which he did vide GEF 001 of 2021.
However, in his judgement read on Wednesday July 10, 2024, Collins Acellam, the Arua High Court Judge stated that: “In all honesty, the step taken by the 1st Defendant (Ezati) to communicate to the authorities such as DISO and RDC was a mere precautionary step taken genuinely out of fear, any reasonable person would have done so without spite or malice.”
“The recordings of statements or communication made to police are all extensions of the Criminal Justice System, I am not convinced that there was malice or spite allegation made by the 1st Defendant (Ezati) at police. He made a complaint with great concern for his life, investigations are alleged to have been carried out and since there was no viable evidence to prosecute, the file was closed, this did not mean that the Defendants (Ezati and Moseka) fabricated or with spite or untruthfulness imputed an offense against the Plaintiff (Ocatre),” the judgement read in part.
It is on this ground and many other reasons that Justice Acellam dismissed the case with costs to the Defendants (Ezati and Moseka).
“However, having confirmed issue 1&2 to be in the negative and the Plaintiff (Ocatre) having not succeeded in his claim, the suit is hereby dismissed with costs to the Defendants,” Acellam ordered.
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