Zaake protests over missing NUP supporters, faces disciplinary action again
Youthful Mityana Municipality MP, Francis Zaake is set to face the rules, privileges and discipline committee of parliament after the vocal leader stood up against the word of the deputy speaker of the house, Mr Thomas Tayebwa.
This will be the third time Zaake will be facing the rules committee over what the house leadership has always termed as indiscipline.
This afternoon, during plenary, Zaake rose up to give a procedural matter about the continued abductions of National Unity Platform (NUP) party supporters saying that the house has not given the issue priority.
In a way of directing him, Mr Tayebwa told the MP to raise the matter before him so that he could bring it up better before the house.
“This is the way we have been shut up and this very important matter swept below the carpet. I don’t want to know how I have raised it, all I want to see is that this parliament conclusively debates the issue of abductions to the latter,” Zaake said before he was joined by other opposition MPs on the floor of parliament.
There was a standoff prompting Tayebwa to suspend the house for five minutes. Zaake remained standing at the floor in a heroic way despite some of the opposition leaders telling him to back off the matter.
Even when everyone moved out Zaake remained rooted to the floor before Busiro East MP Medard Ssegona convinced him to get out.
“I knew he was going astray but when I tell him to sit down, I know that there is a problem with the way he is presenting the matter on the floor,” Mr Tayebwa said upon resumption of the house.
Mr Zaake was summoned to the rules committee for what Mr Tayebwa deemed as total misconduct within the august house.
Zaake has been at the forefront in agitating for observation for human rights and a strong critic for the status quo.
The first time he appeared before the rules committee was when he confronted Makerere University Vice Chancellor Mr Barnabas Nawangwa who was appearing before human rights committee for dismissing students in what was termed as “unfair.”
Zaake won this case.
Early this year, Zaake was summoned in the same committee for what was deemed as misconduct when posts made on social media attributed to him were taken to be direct attacks onto the person of the speaker of Parliament, Anite Among.
The rules committee and majority of the house sacked Zaake from his position as commission which he appealed in the constitutional court. Although the court finalized the trial of this matter five months ago, the verdict of judgement is yet to be delivered to Zaake.
Zaake who appeared to be unapologetic about his action posted the clips of what happened in the house.
“I have to make sure that those people who were abducted are given a fair hearing and at least taken through the normal process of the court. The house is quiet, I won’t remain quiet in this time of adversity,” he told this website in the evening.
Many analysts have since named Zaake as the best MP in the opposition with the way he confronts the issues that are pertinent to the common people of Uganda.
