Kira Municipality Member of Parliament Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda has said in future, the opposition should be careful with the people they send to the Parliamentary Commission because he thinks his Mityana Municipality counterpart Francis Zaake is/was not the most suitable to be a Commissioner.
Ssemujju’s assertion follows the impeachment of Zaake from the Office of the Parliamentary Commissioner last week.
Appearing on NBS TV’s Morning Breeze show on Tuesday, Ssemujju also urged the National Unity Platform (NUP) not to reappoint and take back the name of Zaake to parliament because it doesn’t work that way.
“The Leader of Opposition Hon Mathias Mpuuga and NUP will sit and make a decision. I think even as Hon. Zaake pursues the legal path, we must not paralyze the Parliament Commission.We must find a middle ground. If there’s an organ you want to freeze at Parliament, it’s not a Commission. I think the censure of Hon. Zaake has happened, but we have to find a way for Parliament to continue working,” the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) Spokesperson added.
“I don’t think Zaake’s case should even be talked about when we are looking at the decay in Parliament. The decorum of Parliament can’t be based on one case (Zaake’s).Things have changed. Parliament has changed as well. I don’t see a difference between many MPs now and Zaake. We are all the same. The standards have gone down.”
On the issue of trying to save Zaake from censure, Ssemujju revealed that the opposition under Hon. Mpuuga did not fail because they went and met the Deputy Speaker Anita Among but she said they had gone late.
“Me and Hon. Mpuuga went to the Deputy Speaker of Parliament to plead for Hon. Zaake.She said the case was beyond her at that moment. It had been taken over by other people who feel for Parliament and her as an individual.”
“One of the mistakes NUP made was to look for people who were hostile to FDC.It was a mistake for NUP to appoint Hon. Martin Ojara Mapenduzi. It’s now up to them, and I wish them well.”
Last week, Zaake stopped being a Parliamentary Commissioner following a vote on motion moved to have him out on grounds of misconduct; he allegedly disrespected Deputy Speaker Among.
In a secret ballot conducted out of 161 members of Parliament, 155 MPs voted to remove Zaake from the Parliament Commission while only four MPs voted against the proposal to remove Zaake. There were two invalid votes registered.
Zaake’s removal came after Parliament also adopted the report of the Committee of Rules, Discipline and Privileges with amendments presented by Chairperson, Abdu Katuntu.
Bardege-Layibi Division MP also chairperson Local Government Accounts Committee, Martin Ojara Mapenduzi moved a motion under section 5 of the Administration of Parliament Act to immediately remove Zaake from the Commission. Busia Municipality MP, Geoffrey Macho seconded the motion saying the removal of Zaake as a commissioner would bring sanity. He said that the removal of Zaake is not because of his political party but of his character.
The Deputy Speaker said Zaake would apologise to the House within one week adding that the Opposition will have to propose another name for the position.
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