MP Akol Turns Zaake into punching bag, suspension bites 12

PARLIAMENT - House in Session turns unruly once again as Kilak North MP Anthony Akol unleashed his quick blows on Mityana Municipality MP Francis Zaake, leaving the fleshy legislator in revolving move.

Mr Zaake had to be stretchered off on a gurney to the hospital after appearing to provoke Mr Akol during the plenary.

In 2020, Akol punched then Aruu County MP Odonga Otto in the House, and that reputation struck with precise humiliation in the House on Wednesday as the controversial debate on the merger of the coffee authority continued to spill onto the floor.

Caught on camera, Mr Zaake is seen protesting against a member of the Speaker's security team who had accessed the Plenary with a firearm, contrary to the House rules.

After complaining, the inflammatory legislator then attempted to push Mr Akol off his seat. However with seeming temperament issues, the legislature reacted violently.

The cause of the scuffle was the suspension of the sitting, with House Speaker Anita Among also suspending 12 MPs involved in the scuffle for three sittings.

Ms Among suspended opposition National Unity Platform legislators Shamim Malende of Kampala City, Hannington Wakayima Musoke of Nansana Municipality, Aloysius Mukasa of Lubaga South, Charles Tebandeke of Bbaale County, and Derrick Nyeko of Makindye East.

Others are Frank Kabuye of Kassanda South, Evans Kanyike of Bukoto East, and Susan Nakaziba Mugabi of Buvuma Island.

The National Coffee Amendment Bill, 2024 seeks the merger of the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) with the agriculture ministry. However, the said bill has generated tension in the political arena.

The government, led by President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, is pushing for the scrapping of the coffee authority to enshrine its mandate under the ministry, but the move has met strong opposition from across the political divide and the populace.

President Museveni has baptised the Authority "parasitic" and claimed that those opposed to the merger are "criminals," while Buganda Kingdom has led the charge against the Bill largely after spending the last few years promoting coffee growing under the 'Ommwanyi Tezimba' initiative.