EAC oaths bill deferred over penalties

What you need to know:

  • Some lawmakers with the East African Legislative Assembly (Eala) also wanted the proposed law to be the preserve of a certain category of staff and not all in the service of the EAC. 

Arusha. Debate on the East African Community (EAC) Oaths Bill, 2017 was on Thursday deferred to another date for failure to indicate penalties to those who would violate it once enacted.

Some lawmakers with the East African Legislative Assembly (Eala) also wanted the proposed law to be the preserve of a certain category of staff and not all in the service of the EAC. 

"There is a serious void in the legislation because there is no mechanism to deal with the violators", said the Counsel to the Community Anthony Kafumbe.  He said during the second reading of the draft of the proposed legislation that it did not indicate how to deal with persons who would violate when passed and enacted.

The bill was introduced to into the Assembly by the Chairperson of the EAC Council of Ministers and read for the first time last month during an Eala plenary session in Kampala. It wants newly-recruited staff members of the EAC, its organs and institutions to be subjected to an oath of allegiance upon assuming duties. 

Besides those recruited in the employment or service of the Community, those required to take oath are to include persons appearing before judicial or quasi-judicial organs or institutions of EAC. These are to include those required to give evidence at the East African Court of Justice (EACJ), the judicial organ of the Community handling cases and disputes from across the region.

However, the bill could not sail as the legislators questioned as to why all the newly appointed staff of the Community should have to swear in before  discharging their duties.  "Oath should not be for all the EAC staff. It is unnecessary.

It should be the preserve of certain staff, preferrably the senior officials", said Mary Mugyenyi from Uganda.  A member of the House Legal, Rules and Privileges Committee which tabled the Bill, Suzane Nakauki (Uganda) confirmed that the legislation is intended to cover all the staff of the EAC.  "Only the short-term workers are exempted. The rest be they the professional, support or project staff are covered", she said, adding oath taking would be brief and simple.

Fatuma Ndagiza (Rwanda), the Chair of the Committee said punitive measures for those who would violate the Oath should be those contained in the current EAC staff rules and regulations. 

Until now EAC staff required to take oath are the political appointees being the secretary general, deputy secretaries general and Counsel to the Community who is the chief legal advisor.

Others are the Judges and Registrars of the regional Court as well as Eala members. 

EAC currently has slightly over 300 staff members with 228 working at the Arusha-based secretariat, 53 in EACJ and 33 at Eala.

Scores of others are employed in the  eight EAC institutions spread across the region.