Kilak North Member of Parliament Anthony Akol expects an apology from Mityana Municipality’s Hon. Francis Zaake.
Akol punched Zaake moments before the controversial National Coffee Amendment Bill was passed into law on Wednesday.
“I’m a very humble person but never attack me. When you attack me, it’s like attacking an elephant. The same thing happened with Odonga Otto after he kicked me. It happened with this man (Zaake) who was trying to lift and push me. I’m actually expecting an apology from Hon Zaake, given that he’s younger than me. He’s my children’s age. In the African setting, when an adult is seated you give that respect,” Akol said as quoted by Daily Monitor
After leaving the hospital, Zaake said he was taking legal action against Akol.
“Upon being discharged from hospital, I have instructed my lawyers to take swift legal action against Mr. Akol Anthony (MP Kilak North) for physically assaulting me like a wild animal on the floor of Parliament as we debated the coffee Bill,” Zaake posted on his X (formerly Twitter) platform.
Zaake’s lawyer, Erias Lukwago of Lukwago and Co. Advocates has since written to Akol with intention to sue.
“Our client avers that on the 6th day of November 2024, during a parliamentary session discussing the National Coffee (Amendment) Bill, 2024, you, Hon. Anthony Akol, physically assaulted and battered our client by repeatedly punching him in and/or around his head, causing him to fall to the ground and sustain injuries. Your barbaric attack, perpetrated in the presence of other Members of Parliament, captured on official parliamentary footage, and circulated widely on national and international media, resulted in our client requiring medical attention and suffering both physical and emotional trauma. It also aggravated the trauma occasioned upon him by past incidents of torture,” Lukwago’s letter to Akol reads in part.
