Burundi’s bid to unseat Eala speaker rejected

Arusha. Burundi’s bid to unseat Martin Ngoga as the Speaker of the East African Legislative Assembly (Eala) has failed.

The East African Court of Justice (EACJ) yesterday dismissed a case challenging the tension-filled election of Mr Ngoga, a Rwanda national, in December 2017.

“The application is dismissed with costs. The election did not contravene with the law”, said Lady Justice Monica Mugenyi as she read the judgement.

She ruled Eala was duly constituted when the election took place and that there was no evidence of boycott by Burundi and Tanzania MPs.

The case was filed by Burundi which, alongside with Tanzania, had each fielded a candidate for what would have been a three-horse race.

Burundi, in particular, had opposed Mr Ngoga’s candidature, arguing that it was its turn to produce the Speaker and not Rwanda given the alphabetical order. After two days of heated debate, Rwanda refused to withdraw the name of its candidate and the regional Assembly went ahead with the polls.

Burundi filed the case at EACJ, saying the December 19th, 2017 election was held in violation of the East African Community (EAC) Treaty.

Counsel representing Burundi Nestory Kayobera said in the absence of MPs from Burundi and Tanzania, the polls were held against the Eala Rules of Procedures and tenets of the EAC Treaty.

The court ruling yesterday attracted a host of Eala members from Burundi, Tanzania and Rwanda as well as other ‘persons of interest’ from around the region.

Mr Kayobera declined to speak to journalists after the court verdict, insisting he would be ready to do so once he got a copy of the judgement.

Several Burundi government officials, including those from the country’s consulate in Arusha, also avoided the press.