MP Akol At It Again, Punches Zaake to Cabbage Inside Parliament

Mr Akol on Wednesday relived his 2020 ignominy, this time unleashing quick blows on Mityana Municipality MP Francis Zaake, leaving the plump legislator in reeling.

HOUSE OF SHAME | Once is an accident but twice is a habit, and for Kilak North MP Anthony Akol, the age-old adage strikes with the viciousness of a heavyweight pugilist in a 1980s brawl.

Mr Akol on Wednesday relived his 2020 ignominy, this time unleashing quick blows on Mityana Municipality MP Francis Zaake, leaving the plump legislator in reeling.

Mr Zaake had to be stretchered off on a gurney for a trip 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 ignominy in the House on Wednesday as the controversial debate on the merger of the coffee authority continued to spill onto the floor.

Back then, Mr Akol told journalists that he was provoked by Mr Otto, who, after expressing his grievances, started hurling insults at him.

“Even after explaining, he went ahead and started abusing me instead. He even kicked my knee. I had nothing else to do but to return a slap as a defense. Not even boxing him. I'm a heavyweight, and if I had boxed him, he would be down," he said.

"When he kicked my left knee, I had to just defend myself. He picked a chair and wanted to hit me before members (MPs) came and stopped him. That was it. It was no big deal. I don't think it was a serious issue. If he goes to court, I will have to defend myself."

Mr Zaake is caught on camera in apparent protest against a member of the Speaker's security team who had accessed the Plenary with a firearm, contrary to the House rules.

After remonstrating, the provocative legislator then attempted to nudge Mr Akol off his seat, and the Kilak MP, with apparent temperament issues, reacted violently.

Many an MP in Akol's shoes would have possibly avoided such a violent response to the provocation and not used their fist in the House, but the Kilak legislator appears to be earning a reputation one cannot be proud of.

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

Along with the two ignominious fighters, 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 NUP legislators are joined in following the controversial coffee debate from their living rooms by Forum for Democratic Change's Isaias Johny Ssasaga of Budadiri East and Asinansi Nyakato of Hoima City.

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

The government, led by President 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 citizenry.

Mr Museveni has called 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.

The scuffle in Parliament on Wednesday did not end with Zaake on the gurney but with a section of the legislators jubilating on the floor. Lights were reportedly switched off, and journalists were locked away as security moved to clear the House by dragging out the MPs.

Mr Zaake's provocation—not the first by the Mityana legislator—leaves the Opposition further reduced in numbers after the suspension.

Understandably, a section of Ugandans has criticized his actions.

Ms Agather Atuhaire, a lawyer and human rights defender who previously covered Parliament as a journalist, asked Mr Zaake to "start to use his head."

"You know that the people are waiting for any excuse to brutalize, arrest, and pass whatever they want unabated," Ms Atuhaire posted on X, formerly Twitter.

"You give them that excuse unprovoked. You do that every time and it never benefits you or the people you claim to fight for, but you still do it nonetheless, over and over again."

While the question of Zaake's provocative antics floats in the air, the issue of Akol's lack of control should equally be raised with a louder decibel. At what point do supposed honourables become so quick with their fists as if they are in the street, yet they are parents and role models on national television?