Mityana Municipality MP Hon. Francis Zaake has denied cases of misconduct against him claiming that Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe’s complaints are personal, and exaggerations to divert the public’s attention from what happened at Makerere University.
Zaake says he respects parliamentary rules, and he never disrespected Prof. Nawangwe, nor acted in a manner that puts the image of parliament in disrepute as he is accused.
Zaake’s remarks are contained in his statement to the disciplinary committee of parliament as part of his defense in allegations of misconduct during his confrontational encounter with Prof. Nawangwe during a parliamentary probe on strikes at Makerere University.
In his defense, Zaake denied having acted in a manner that demeans the integrity of parliament, and instead accused Prof. Nawangwe of demeaning parliament and threatening his life.
Zaake accused Prof. Nawangwe of harboring vendetta against him claiming he received phone calls from Nawangwe telling him (Zaake) that he is a dead dog, and what he is pursuing won’t take him anywhere. He claims Prof. Nawangwe said that parliament is a toothless dog which cannot do anything to him.
A seemingly apologetic Zaake pleaded that he did not even point a finger at Prof. Nawangwe, nor disrespect him as alleged. He says he only made hand gestures that could have been misinterpreted to be a violent behavior.
However, when he was asked if he had any witness to substantiate the threat claims, Zaake said only him and his personal assistant heard Nawangwe say those words.
“I have no personal issues with Prof. Nawangwe, and it was my first time to see him. However he might have personal issues against me because threatening me for no reason was to me strange” Zaake said.
Zaake said he respect rules of parliament, and all through the proceedings of the committee on the day Nawangwe was in parliament, he kept calm even when I was angry about what had happened at Makerere University.
“Honorable members, I behaved in a very good way only that I was trying to put my point across” He said. He also denied to have told Nawangwe that Makerere University will continue to experience student protests as long as he is in charge.
He said the complaints against him are meant to divert the publics’ attention from what happened in Makerere because they are baseless and malicious.
“Mr. Chair, my plea is that the committee treats Prof. Nawangwe’s complaints against me with the contempt they deserve, because they are exaggerated allegations, and malicious to the person of me.” Zaake pleaded.
The committee however asked the house for up to January, to further investigate the matter before tabling a report on their findings.