Another fraud suspect has been let off the hook by the third arm of the government, the court.

Buganda Road Chief Magistrate Court acquitted the 53 year old Shaban Ramadhan Mubajje of fraudulent sale of Muslim property and forgery on Monday this week.

He was acquitted together with his co-accused Hajj Hassan Basajjabalaba and former Uganda Muslim Supreme Council (UMSC) Secretary General, Dr. Idris Kasenene.

Hassan Basajjabalaba was elected UMSC vice chairman in December 2000, the day Mubajje was elected Mufti, at Hotel Africana.

Because the substantive chairman Ali Muhammad Adrama didn't ally with Mubajje during this fraud trial, a meeting was hastily organised at old Kampala at which he was suspended and replaced by Basajjabalaba.

The Mubajje/Basajjabalaba court victory was expected and that is why Muslims gathered at Kibuli last week to plan how to respond to it.

The victory was expected not because the case against Mubajje was weak but because its prosecution was interfered with by the state.

First, the complainant who is the elected chairman of Muslims in Kampala, Sheik Haroon Jemba, never wanted this case prosecuted by the state. He hired private lawyers because of loss of faith in individuals occupying public offices.

The state which keeps complaining of being understaffed jumped in and grabbed the case using the law. One wonders why the state hadn't thought of charging Mubajje since there was evidence or at least uneasiness in society.

When the state came in, it downgraded the case from embezzlement to fraud and forgery. The intention was to shield this man who was President Museveni's campaign agent in 2001, from going to jail, and it appears to have worked.

Mubajje and Co. even visited 'the chief justice of the administrative court' at State House Nakasero to plead their innocence. And knowing how State House interferes with cases before court, anybody who expected a Mubajje defeat was day dreaming. I had hoped that the man who sold Muslim property would be convicted but I insulated myself from disappointment because I knew it was never going to happen.

I still have some faith in court but that doesn't in any way suggest that magistrates and judges are above compromise. The leadership of court needs to be reminded that controversial judgments are sometimes the cause of mob justice.

As for Mubajje, he is now a Mufti imposed on Muslims. He has left his legitimacy in the dock where he has spent a solid two years battling fraud and forgery charges.

Even those who are close to him know that the Muslim community in Uganda has no faith in the Mecca trained sheik.

That is why Sheik Nuhu Muzaata Batte who is able to do what Buganda Road Court cannot has become a darling.

Of course historians have already recorded a chapter in their books about how corruption has infested the ruling NRM. This chapter contains face saving methods NRM leadership has used to protect the corrupt.

That is why every suspect must run to State House to ask for protection. Amama Mbabazi was rescued by State House. That is the reason those State House refused to rescue are very bitter.

However, I seek comfort in the vigilance of the Muslims and their level of civic competence. Even with victory, Mubaje will never be the same. He will have to continue moving under heavy protection.

This protection will continue multiplying as the presidency continues to register more failures and doesn't change its behaviour on nepotism and misuse of public resources.

That is why like I did last week, I am calling on Ugandans to take up their civic responsibility more seriously. If we all collectively decided to make Uganda small for wrong-doers, there would be more roads done, schools properly built and more hospitals stocked with drugs.

Let us not resign to the fate. That is what dictators are yearning for - a despondent society.

In fact, this is how Mubajje became Mufti. Because of the confusion at Old Kampala, the Muslim headquarters was abandoned to the worthless like it is threatening to re-occur. Decent people declined to take part in the elections that brought Mubajje into office. For the first time we had a man seeking to be Mufti going round the country mobilizing people along tribal lines; and he was loaded with cash from one of the hills in Kampala.

Despondency will breed another Mubajje. Barack Obama fought it in America and that is why the turn up on Election Day skyrocketed.

Ssemujju Ibrahim Nganda, The author is Political Editor of The Weekly Observer