As emotions continue to run high over the controversial debate on the National Coffee (Amendment) Bill 2024, the Speaker of Parliament has suspended 12 members of the House following a disturbance in the chambers during plenary on Wednesday morning.

A fight broke out between Kilak North MP Anthony Akol and his Mityana Municipality counterpart Francis Zaake after the latter tried to push the former from a seat he had momentarily vacated to make a point of order on the floor.

In his presentation, Mr Zaake expressed concern about the safety of members in the chambers, arguing that some non-MPs had entered the Chamber with weapons.

The president, however, said the person Mr. Zaake was referring to was her bodyguard. He then asked the sergeant-at-arms to subject his bodyguard to a body search and later told members there was no weapon.
When Zaake returned to take his seat, he found Mr. Akol occupying it before trying to kick him out.
In response, Mr Akol stood up and punched Mr Zaake to the ground before chaos erupted as the Speaker fled the chambers.

Moments later, Zaake was seen being wheeled into an ambulance waiting to be flown to hospital for treatment.
When the Speaker returned moments later, she read out a list of 12 MPs whom she said would not be allowed to attend plenary for three consecutive sittings due to misconduct.

The parliamentarians are; Akol, Zaake, Wakayima Musoke, Aloysius Mukasa, Charles Tebandeke., Isaiah Ssasaga, Asinansi Nyakato, Derrick Nyeko, Frank Kabuye, Ronald Evan Kanyike, Susan Mugabi and Shamim Malende.

“I am proceeding to appoint the MPs and to suspend these members for three consecutive sittings in this House. Members are suspended from the House with immediate effect. I also invoke Rule 88(2) to order the above MPs to immediately withdraw from the House and accordingly order the Sargent at Arms to vacate the Houses and thereby suspend the House for 15 minutes,” a the President decided.

Earlier, Mrs Among invoked Rule 9 and declared a free sitting given the large number of MPs in the House today.

Meanwhile, security has been tightened in and around the Parliament premises, with MPs undergoing thorough security checks before entering the chambers.

This prompted the MP for Kira Municipality, Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda, to express concern over the high security deployment in Parliament, calling on the Speaker to vacate the Chambers and subject all their occupants and offices around the Chambers to a search to ensure that no arms were brought into the Chambers before. of the anticipated heated debate on the National Coffee (Amendment) Bill.

“I raise a point of privilege for you to subdue everyone and we vacate the building, because Parliament must be an atmosphere of free debate. We need to inspect all these rooms around the chambers to ensure that there is a free atmosphere for debate. I’ve been here for a while, we’ve been humiliated by security as we’ve come into Parliament and it’s not just affected Opposition MPs, we’ve been pulled from cars, stopped from parking. There are uniformed security personnel in excess of the 530 MPs. In our Rules you do not carry weapons past the main gate, I am not sure there are no weapons inside this building and I am raising this because some of us have fallen victims before,” Mr Ssemujju said.

In response, the President said that security is to ensure the safety of members.
“We have to be careful that we have EALA sitting in the same building. When I entered, I was personally screened and I am not immune to anything,” Ms Among said.