The cross-examination probe of embattled Mityana Municipality Member of Parliament Francis Zaake (NUP), which was set to be concluded this week remains in balance.

According to presiding chairperson of Parliament's Rules, Discipline and Privileges Committee, Charles Onen (Laroo-Pece Division, INDP), Zaake’s Lawyer, who is also Kampala Lord Mayor, has requested one month as he battles illness at a hospital in Nairobi, Kenya.

Meanwhile, the Rakai Woman MP Juliet Kinyamatama Suubi (NRM), who is a key witness in the probe, has according to Onen, informed the committee that she travelled on an emergency to UK and that she will be back to the country next month.

“The honourable council representing Honorable Zaake notified this committee that we should give him one more month because he is in for treatment in Nairobi and would be back in the country after recovery which he thinks will take like a month for him to be able to appear before us,” he said.

Onen added, “You are also aware that Parliament and different sectoral committees are looking at the budget, they are in the budget process and most of the members are busy, and I am adjourning this seating until further notice. You’re the witnesses representing Honorable Kinyamatama will be notified she is coming to appear before the committee.”

According to the chairperson, the committee will hold an in-house meeting next week where they shall decide when they will be able to recall the meeting.

How it started

Last year, on December 7, 2022, Zaake was suspended from plenary seatings over alleged indiscipline and was referred to the rules committee.

On that fateful day, Zaake purportedly hijacked the microphone without the discretion of the presiding officer in a bid to raise a procedural matter about rampant abductions of supporters by security agencies.

Even after being guided otherwise, he remained glued to the floor prompting Tayebwa to adjourn the house to restore normalcy.

Following the suspension, the Rules Committee initiated an investigation into the case against MP Zaake, in which he is alleged to have violated the House’s procedural rules by disrespecting Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa.