The Constitutional Court in Kampala has overturned Parliament’s decision to remove Zaake Francis Butebi, a MP Mityana Municipality from his position as a Parliament Commissioner.
In March 2022, Zaake, was ousted as a Parliament Commissioner due to misconduct. He had reportedly posted offensive tweets directed at the then Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Anita Among. A total of 155 legislators voted in favor of his removal.
In response, Zaake, through lawyers of Lukwago and Company Advocates, filed a case with the Constitutional Court, challenging Parliament’s actions.
In his lawsuit, Zaake argued that it was improper and unlawful for Speaker Among to turn her personal grievances into a matter for investigation by Parliament’s Committee on Rules, Privileges, and Discipline, which ultimately led to his removal as a parliamentary commissioner.
Today, the Constitutional Court ruled in favor of Zaake. The court found that Parliament had failed to follow various procedural requirements and had acted in violation of the law. This included amending the Order Paper to include a motion to dismiss Zaake without proper procedures.
Furthermore, the court held that Speaker Anita Among had infringed upon basic human rights by behaving as if she were a judge in a case in which she had a direct personal interest, which was deemed incorrect.
The court ruled that Mityana Municipality MP 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.
Additionally, the court found fault with Parliament for passing a motion to expel Zaake without first considering the number of members present to make such a decision.
Five Justices, including 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.
Lawyer to Zaake, Eron Kiiza said : “The judge advised the Speaker to stop being the police, the prosecutor, and a judge in her own causes,”
Zaake told journalists outside court: “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.”
Speaker Among has been directed to compensate MP Zaake a 1% interest.