‘I threw chairs, I used my belt’ – Ugandan MP speaks from hospital bed
One of the youngest MPs caught on camera fighting off security officers at Uganda’s parliament last week has told the BBC from his hospital bed:
We don’t regret it, we know we’re within the law. The constitution gives us power to protect it.”
Francis ZaakeUgandan MP
Parliament had descended into mayhem during a motion to change presidential age limits which would allow President Yoweri Museveni to stand for a sixth term in office.
Mr Zaake ended up unconscious in hospital for two days.
Speaking from his hospital bed with a fractured arm, broken ribs, and pain in his skull, he told the BBC’s Patience Atuhaire:
They beat me with… electrified poles on my head. X-rays show that pressure was [placed] on my skull. I also remember feeling things being injected into me.”
He says he’s not cowed by the prospect of being charged with vandalism:
They will cut our salaries…still we know the struggle isn’t over.
We need to see another president. Some us were born when the president was already in power.”
