By Atwiine Faith
Kampala Lord Mayor, Erias Lukwago who also doubles as the lawyer of Member of Parliament Francis Zaake has accused Parliament of fabricating evidence against his client, who is facing a disciplinary hearing for allegedly insulting a female MP.
Francis Zaake, who represents Mityana Municipality, was summoned by the committee last month after Juliet Kinyamatama, the Rakai Woman MP, claimed he had verbally abused her in her constituency on Independence Day.
Zaake denied the accusation and said he had proof that he was not in Rakai on the said day. He also accused Kinyamatama of being part of a plot to silence his criticism of the government.
The Rules Committee said it had video and audio recordings from Parliament's Hansard that were to be used as evidence in the case. However, Lukwago contested the authenticity of the evidence, saying the records from the Hansard were altered.
Lukwago also demanded the production and cross-examination of the staff that worked on the Hansard that day, but the editor of the Hansard at parliament denied knowing the identity of the particular staff.
"The Clerk to Parliament wrote to the Editor of the Hansard to send to the committee the staff that recorded the proceedings of parliament on that day, but the editor said he doesn't know the identities of the staff who recorded the proceedings that day," Lukwago told the committee.
"What is shocking is that they brought another video. Initially, they said they had two videos, but today they said they have three videos. I think they realized that their videos had patches and just as you saw them, some videos had no sound while the others captured proceedings outside the chambers. They have now gone into a fishing expedition for evidence because it doesn't exist," he added.
The committee adjourned the hearing to a later date, saying it needed more time to verify the evidence.
Zaake, a member of National Unity Platform (NUP), led by former presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi was earlier this year controversially impeached by his fellow MPs for allegedly insulting then Deputy Speaker of Parliament Anita Among on social media. But on September 28, the Court quashed Zaake's impeachment, saying it was unconstitutional and violated his right to a fair hearing.