Summary:
- Besigye, a prominent political and human rights activist, commended MP Zaake’s courage, resilience, and spirit of resistance.
KAMPALA: The former President of the Forum for Democratic Change Party, Dr. Kizza Besigye, has said that Hon. Francis Zaake Butebi, Member of Parliament for Mityana Municipality, has been the most physically brutalized MP in Uganda’s 10th and 11th Parliaments.
Besigye’s statement follows an incident on Wednesday when MP Zaake was rushed to the hospital after a scuffle broke out in the chambers of Uganda’s Parliament during a plenary session.
The altercation started after Zaake raised concerns about security in the chambers, alleging that non-MPs had entered the House armed. Zaake pointed to an individual behind the Speaker’s seat, claiming the person was carrying a weapon.
His concerns were echoed by Kira Municipality MP Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda, who warned that the parliamentary building was “under siege” by armed individuals and called for a thorough security screening of everyone in the House.
Besigye, a prominent political and human rights activist, commended MP Zaake’s courage, resilience, and spirit of resistance.
“I pray that he and his fellow MPs who were brutalized recover quickly from the trauma,” Besigye said.
He continued, “As in Uganda’s 10th Parliament in 2017, Parliament has once again been desecrated by a violent invasion of (unknown) security operatives.”
According to Besigye, Parliament is meant to be Uganda’s supreme State organ, as it represents the will of the people.
“Article 1 of Uganda’s Constitution provides that all power belongs to the people. Except for referenda, people exercise their power through their representatives,” he stated.
Besigye condemned Wednesday’s events as acts of impunity of the highest order.
“That’s why I shudder when I see people vying to be in the junta Parliament,” he remarked.
He concluded by asserting that the people of Uganda have an urgent duty to liberate the country before it descends to irrecoverable depths.
