Reinstate Zaake as House commissioner, lawyers tell Clerk
Current Speaker of Parliament Anita Among and Mityana Municipality MP Francis Zaake fist bump before a special sitting of the 11th Parliament to elect Speaker and Deputy Speaker of Parliament in Mach 2022. PHOTO/ FILE
What you need to know:
- The lawyers also demand that all Mr Zaake’s unpaid allowances that have accumulated since last March be paid.
- Last Thursday, the Constitutional Court, in a majority decision of 4:1, quashed Parliament’s resolution that impeached MP Zaake as one of the commissioners to Parliament for allegedly insulting then Deputy Speaker of Parliament, now Speaker Anita Among.
Lawyers representing Mityana Municipality MP Francis Zaake have written to the office of the Clerk to Parliament to immediately reinstate him to his position of commissioner for Parliament.
The lawyers from Lukwago and Co-Advocates, in their October 2 communication to the Clerk to Parliament, said: “Reference is made to the Constitutional Court’s judgement of September 28, in Constitutional petition No. 06 of 2022 Hon Francis Zaake Vs Attorney General that quashed Parliament’s resolution of March 10, 2022 to remove our client from the office of Commissioner of Parliament.”
Adding: “This, therefore, is to demand that Parliament immediately restore our client’s access to his office as a commissioner of Parliament, restore to our client any and all privileges he is entitled to including but not limited to an official vehicle, a fuel card and monthly honoraria.”
The lawyers also demand that all Mr Zaake’s unpaid allowances that have accumulated since last March be paid.
Last Thursday, the Constitutional Court, in a majority decision of 4:1, quashed Parliament’s resolution that impeached MP Zaake as one of the commissioners to Parliament for allegedly insulting then Deputy Speaker of Parliament, now Speaker Anita Among.
The court held that the quorum of one-third of all the MPs in the House to pass the resolution to relieve MP Zaake of his duties was not met.
The justices also observed that Ms Among had a conflict of interest when she continued to chair the parliamentary proceedings leading to MP Zaake’s impeachment.
Background
This case arose last year after MP Zaake challenged his removal as a Commissioner of Parliament, representing the largest Opposition political party in the House, the National Unity Platform.
While presiding over the parliamentary debate on February 8, 2022 about the rising cases of torture of individuals in the country by State agencies, then Deputy Speaker Among stated that much as MP Zaake was tortured, he was able to win a gold medal with a broken leg Ms Among was referring to the East African Parliamentary sports games that MP Zaake had participated in. But Mr Zaake was not amused and allegedly insulted Ms Among, in retaliation, on his social media platforms.
In February 2022, Bardege-Layibi County MP Ojara Martin Mapenduzi during the plenary, told the House about Mr Zaake’s alleged posts and the matter was handled by the Committee on Rules, Privileges and Discipline. The committee found Mr Zaake culpable and the House approved its findings, leading to his removal as a Commissioner of Parliament.
