Zaake Francis

Francis Zaake is an independent member of the Parliament of Uganda for the Mityana Municipality constituency, elected in 2016 and a businessman. He is a member of the Committee of Defense and Internal Affairs.

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 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 from Merryland High School, in Entebbe. He later joined Ndejje University where he graduated with a bachelor's degree 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 Campaign led by fellow member of parliament Robert Kyagulanyi Ssentamu.

In the days leading up to the parliamentary by-elections for Arua 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, 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, while h was still bed-ridden from his injuries.