Francis Zaake (born 12 January 1991) is a businessman and Member of the 11th

Parliament of Uganda The parliament of Uganda is the country's legislative body. Unicameral, the most significant of the Ugandan parliament's functions is to pass laws that will provide good governance in the country. The government ministers are bound to answer t ...

representing Mityana Municipality. He was first elected to Parliament in the 2016 general elections as an Independent Member. In late 2020, he crossed to the

National Unity Platform The National Unity Platform (NUP, sw, Jukwaa la Umoja wa Kitaifa), formerly the National Unity, Reconciliation and Development Party (NURP), is a political party in Uganda led by Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu (also known as Bobi Wine). The NURP w ...

(NUP), Uganda's leading opposition Party. He ran for MP in Mityana Municipality in January 2021 on the NUP ticket and won a second term. Then, until his removal by the parliament in March 2022, he served as a Commissioner of Parliament, representing the entire Opposition on the highest decision-making body of the Ugandan Parliament

Biography

Zaake was born on 12 January 1991 at Butebi village, in Mityana District, to Emmanuel Ssembuusi Butebi and Teddy Naluyima. He is the first born in a family of 12 children; eight girls and four boys.

Education

Zaake attended Fairway Primary School, in Mityana, where he obtained a Primary Leaving Examinations (PLE) Certificate in 2006. He then studied at Mityana Modern Secondary School, graduating with a Uganda Certificate of Education (UCE) in 2010. In 2012, he obtained a

Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education In Uganda, students receive the Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education (UACE) when they finish the 2-year upper secondary school which is also called the HSC. It is comparable to GCE A-Level in the UK. UACE is also known colloquially as "A-Leve ...

from ''Merryland High School'', in

Entebbe Entebbe is a city in Central Uganda. Located on a Lake Victoria peninsula, approximately southwest of the Ugandan capital city, Kampala. Entebbe was once the seat of government for the Protectorate of Uganda prior to independence, in 1962. The c ...

. He later joined

Ndejje University Ndejje University is a private, multi-campus, Christian university in Uganda. Location The university has two separate campuses located on , in a rural setting at Ndejje Hill, about , north-west of Bombo Town, in Luweero District, in the Bugan ...

where he graduated with a

Bachelor's Degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

in Procurement and Logistics Management.

Political career

While at Ndejje University, in Luweero District, he was elected ''Guild President'' of the university student body for the academic year 2015/2016, his final year at university. He is one of the politicians in the

People Power "People Power" is a political term denoting the populist driving force of any social movement which invokes the authority of grassroots opinion and willpower, usually in opposition to that of conventionally organised corporate or political for ...

Campaign led by fellow member of parliament

Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, known by his stage name Bobi Wine, is a Ugandan politician, singer, and actor. He is a former Member of Parliament for Kyadondo County East constituency in Wakiso District, in Uganda's Central Region. He also leads ...

. In the days leading up to the parliamentary by-elections for

Arua Arua is a city and commercial centre within the Arua District in the Northern Region of Uganda. Location Arua is approximately , by road, north-west of Kampala, the capital and largest city of Uganda, Arua is about , by road, west of Gulu, the ...

Municipality, that were conducted on 15 August 2018, Francis Zaake was severely injured when he was assaulted by members of Uganda's police and military. He sought specialized medical care in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, as a result of the injuries that he sustained at the hands of Uganda's security forces. As part of the melee that ensued in Arua on the night of 13 August 2018, thirty four individuals were arrested and one of MP Kyagulanyi's drivers, one Yasin Kawuma was shot to death. In September 2018, Zaake was charged with

treason Treason is the crime of attacking a state authority to which one owes allegiance. This typically includes acts such as participating in a war against one's native country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplo ...

, while he was still bed-ridden from his injuries. In April 2020, police arrested Zaake after he distributed food to his neighbors. Police said the MP had flouted measures and guidelines of the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

national task force, led by Prime Minister

Ruhakana Rugunda Ruhakana Rugunda (born 7 November 1947) is a Ugandan physician and politician who had been Prime Minister of Uganda from 2014 to 2021. He held a long series of cabinet posts under President Yoweri Museveni beginning in 1986. He served as Uganda's ...

, on food distribution to the vulnerable people.

References

External links

Uganda Parliament: Zaake Francis
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zaake, Francis 1991 births Living people Ugandan businesspeople Ndejje University alumni Independent politicians in Uganda People from Mityana District Members of the Parliament of Uganda Ganda people 21st-century Ugandan politicians