Police withdraw Zaake’s Parliamentary commission car

Speaker of Parliament Anita Among, Deputy Speaker Thomas tayebwa (centre), and Mityana Municipality MP Francis Zaake interact ahead of a special sitting of the election of the Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the 11th Parliament in March. PHOTO/DAVID LUBOWA

Police on Thursday retrieved from Mityana Municipality MP Francis Zaake’s home a car belonging to the Parliamentary Commission following his removal as Commissioner.  
“The action was prompted by Hon Zaake’s refusal to return Government property that by policy is supposed to be driven by an official driver. The Clerk to Parliament had severally advised Hon Zaake to follow the guidelines governing management of government fleet and return the car but he declined. The police have delivered the car and it is safe at parliament parking,” Parliament’s director, communication and public affairs Chris Obore said on Friday.
A May 3 letter signed off by the Clerk to Parliament, Mr Adolf Mwesige Kasaija, instructed the police to withdraw the vehicle from Mr Zaake. 
“It has come to my notice that Hon Francis Zaake has never handed over the vehicle to the Director, Admiration and Transport Logistics as per my communication, which is in contravention with the law. The purpose of this communication, therefore, is to instruct you to immediately recover the above-mentioned Parliamentary Commission vehicle from him,” the letter read in part. 

In March, 155 legislators voted to remove Mr Zaake from the Parliamentary Commission over accusations of disparaging then Deputy Speaker, Ms Anita Among. Ms Among has since replaced the late Jacob Oulanyah as the House Speaker.
After two weeks of investigation, the Committee on Rules, Privileges, and Discipline had recommended that Mr Zaake apologises to the House. It held that the conduct of the National Unity Platform (NUP) party legislator was not proper and that it amounted to misbehaviour and misconduct. This recommendation was, however, reviewed for a censure motion that was overwhelmingly adopted by the House. Mr Zaake later petitioned the Constitutional Court, seeking to—among others—overturn his removal from the position.