Court Overturns Francis Zaake 's Removal From Parliamentary Commission

Court Overturns Zaake’s Removal From Parliamentary Commission

Posted by: Eninu William in Uganda politics September 28, 2023

The Constitutional Court has this Thursday morning overturned the decision by parliament to remove Hon Francis Zaake, the Mityana Municipality MP from the Parliamentary Commission.

The court in its judgment ruled that Zaake was illegally thrown out of the Commission (the top governing body of parliament) without a quorum.

The judges also found House Speaker Anita Among to have had a conflict of interest. She also apparently breached a number of house rules in the process of suspending Zaake.

The Mityana MP was unceremoniously dismissed from the Parliamentary Commission in March 2022 for alleged misconduct and misbehavior.

Francis Zaake was accused of using derogatory terms to describe the then Deputy Speaker Anitah Among on social media.

The 5 judges of the Constitutional Court noted that there were less than half of the MPs present in the house when Zaake was voted out of the commission.

This is against rule 84(1) of the Rules of Procedure of parliament. Only 161 MPs were in plenary, out of whom 155 voted to expel Zaake.

The judges also referred to the amendment of the recommendations in the report of the parliamentary committee on Rules privileges, and Discipline.

It included a recommendation that Zaake be removed from office which the justices say had no basis in the law. It was passed in contravention of articles 42 and 44(C) of the Constitution and Rule 110(5) in Rules of procedure of Parliament.

The MP’s suspension according to the court, compromised the rules of natural justice. Speaker Among acted as a judge in her own cause. This when she continued chairing parliament on a matter in which she had a personal interest.

It now remains to be seen if Parliament will heed the court’s ruling and reinstate Zaake to the Parliamentary Commission.

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