Francis Zaake, a legislator from Mityana Municipality, has been taken to the hospital following a physical altercation with fellow MP Anthony Akol from Kilak North.
The confrontation erupted after Zaake expressed concerns about security personnel within the Parliament Chambers, alleging that unidentified individuals were present with firearms.
In an attempt to assert his claim over a seat after his submission, Zaake tried to remove Akol, which provoked a furious response from the towering Akol, who retaliated with punches on Zaake in front of Speaker Anitah Among.
Earlier on, the Kira Municipality MP, Ssemujju Nganda (Kira Municipality) had also raised concern over the high security deployment at Parliament, asking Speaker to empty the Chambers and subject all its occupants and offices around the Chambers to a through check to ensure that no guns were brought inside the Chambers ahead of the anticipated heated debate on the Coffee Bill.
“I am raising a point of privilege for you to subject everybody and we empty the building, because Parliament must be an atmosphere of free debate. We need to inspect all these rooms surrounding the chambers to make sure that a free atmosphere for us to have the debate exists,” he noted.
“I have been here for a while, we have been subjected to humiliation by security as we were coming to Parliament, and this didn’t only affect Opposition MPs, we were removed from our vehicles, we were being stopped from parking. There are uniformed security personnel who are more than the 530MPs. In our Rules, you don’t carry guns past the main gate, I am not certain that there aren’t guns inside this building and I am raising this because some of us have fallen victims before,” Ssemujju noted.
In her response, Among said she was also subjected to the same security checks, and emptying the building wouldn’t be possible because members of the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) are using the same building.
“When we came in, personally, I was subjected to check and I am not immune to anything,” she added.
Earlier on, Speaker Among had invoked Rule 9, allowing for a free sitting due to the large attendance of MPs that day.
All members of Parliament were present to discuss the contentious National Coffee (Amendment Bill) and other matters.
Many MPs and coffee farmers have voiced their opposition to the proposal to reclassify the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) as a department under the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF).
On October 25, 2024, Parliament voted to move forward with the National Coffee (Amendment) Bill, which seeks to dissolve the UCDA.
Opposition leader Joel Ssenyonyi informed reporters that they would not back down in their efforts to protect the UCDA from dissolution and the transfer of its responsibilities to the agriculture ministry.
During a meeting with the National Resistance Movement (NRM) Caucus on November 1, 2024, President Yoweri Museveni accused the opposition of spreading misinformation and politicizing issues, indicating that a confrontation was imminent. That confrontation is set to take place today.
