The Kilak North MP, Anthony Akol has asserted that he never inflicted so much injury to Mityana Municipality MP Francis Zaake to warrant his being admitted to Nsambya hospital, explaining that after their scuffle, Zaake stood up and jumped up and down; Akol wondered if some other people took advantage of the brawl and punished Zaake further.
In an interview in Kampala on Friday, MP Akol said he did not regret his action, and added that even Zaake’s voters in Mityana had sent him messages thanking him for having punished him.
On Zaake’s decision to drag him to court, Akol said he was not bothered because, he pointed out, this is not the first time he is being threatened with court action and in all occasions, he has emerged victorious.
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“This is not the first time; when Odonga Otto went to court, the DPP told him this was just a scuffle so, let Zaake go ahead”, Akol said.
Commenting on Speaker Anita Among’s decision to suspend him from parliament along with other legislators, he expressed dissatisfaction and disclosed that he was appealing the suspension because he was the victim. He wondered why he was suspended when it is Zaake who attacked him.
Protesting the suspension, Akol said, “It doesn’t make sense; if I was the one who attacked someone in the house, then you could say that it was my misconduct but I didn’t attack anyone and so I am appealing this suspension”.
Akol also welcomed the decision by Zaake to sue him over the scuffle, although he protested the decision by Speaker Among to suspend him for three sittings, saying he is the victim.
He cautioned Zaake that his lawyer Lukwago is going to eat his money for nothing because he (Zaake) is certainly going to lose the case.
Meanwhile, M/S Lukwago and Co. Advocates have written to Akol declaring their intention to sue him for assault and battery of their client on 6th November during a parliamentary session to discuss the fate of the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) bill.
The lawyers’ notice to Akol charged him with leading Zaake to sustain head injuries following the fall occasioned by his blows to their client. They referred to Akol’s act as a barbaric act which occasioned Zaake physical and emotional trauma before fellow legislators, and a violation of his human rights.
The notice demanded the Kilak MP to issue unequivocal apology on the floor of parliament within seven days of receipt thereof, make monetary atonement enough to ameliorate damage and injury sustained by his victim, and make a ten per cent amount of the atonement as legal fees for the lawyers.