MP Zaake impeachment illegal, court rules
The Constitutional Court in Kampala has ruled that Mityana Municipality Member of Parliament, Francis Zaake Butebi was illegally impeached as commissioner of parliament on grounds that natural justice was not adhered to during the then Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Anita Among-led process.
Five Justices led by Catherine Bamugemereire, Eva Luswata, Irene Mulyagonja, Muzamiru Kibedi, and Osca Kihika have ruled that the Speaker of Parliament had no quorum when she suspended MP Zaake over a Facebook post he made about her, among other reasons.
“The judge advised the Speaker to stop being the police, the prosecutor, and a judge in her own causes,” Lawyer Eron Kiiza, said on Thursday.
Consequently, Among has been ordered to compensate MP Zaake at a 1% interest.
“I’m still a commissioner of Parliament, according to the outcome of this case. It has been cleared today that the legislature as an arm of government does not respect the laws it makes. MadamAnitah Among is not supposed to be called Right Honorable because she doesn’t follow the law. She thought she was untouchable but today, she has been touched,” Zaake told journalists on Thursday.
Meanwhile, the Attorney General’s office wanted court to dismiss the said case on grounds that Parliament never flouted any procedures or rules in passing the motion to have Zaake impeached.
The MP insisted that his impeachment was unconstitutional since Parliament lacked the required quorum of more than 240 members. Zaake further wanted court to overrule on the alleged excessive powers of the then Deputy Speaker Anita Among whom he accuses of treating MPs as her slaves.
He further sought court to sanction all MPs on the Rules and Privileges Committee for allegedly taking a Shs6 million bribe each instead of their entitled Shs800,000 for the 2 days they deliberated.
On March 17, 2022, Zaake petitioned the constitutional court on grounds that he was unlawfully removed from his job and asked court to reinstate him.
Zaake was found guilty of breaching the rules of Parliament when he allegedly used his social media to attack and abuse the then Deputy Speaker and despite numerous requests to apologise, he declined stating that the Among had to apologise to him first for claiming that he was not tortured as alleged by security operatives.
According to Zaake, the now Speaker Among wrote on her social media page that he lied about being tortured since he was able to run and win medals in the East African Parliamentary Games.
Fellow MP, Francis Mapenduzi moved a motion to have Zaake investigated by the Rules and Previledges Committee and later, the committee led by Bugweri County MP Abdul Katuntu recommended that he apologises to the then Deputy Speaker, but later Mapenduzi tabled a motion to have the MP impeached.
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