TZ Eala members ‘forced’ into body
Arusha. Tanzania’s boycott of the East African Legislative Assembly House business took yet a dramatic twist on Wednesday when its two legislators were declared members of the Eala Commission.
The House announced Ms Fancy Haji Nkuhi and Ms Mariam Ussi Yahya as new members to represent Tanzania in the body which manages the business of the Assembly. That was despite reports the country’s chapter had withdrawn their names.
Eala spokesman Bobi Odiko said yesterday that before Wednesday’s election of members of the Commission, the chair of Eala chapter Tanzania had written to the Clerk requesting the withdrawal of the names of the duo. “However, in the absence of withdrawal by the nominees per se, the Speaker therefore ruled that the names be maintained in the list,” he told The Citizen.
During the election, which was boycotted by all the Burundi legislators and some from Tanzania, the duo were overwhelmingly elected into the Commission, each garnering 35 votes.
Mr Odiko added that the Tanzanian lawmakers were now bonafide members of the Commission which was created in 2011 to oversee the administration of the Assembly as well as its day to day business.
A press release issued by Eala yesterday showed Ms Nkuhi and Ms Yahya would represent Tanzania in the body alongside Ms Muhia Wanjiku and Mr Oburu Odinga from Kenya while Ms Nakauki and Fred Mkusaa Mbidde will represent Uganda.
Rwanda’s members would be Dr Kalinda Xavier Kalinda and Ms Gasingizwa Oda and from South Sudan, a new entrant into the East African Community (EAC), new members will be Dr Itto Leonard Ann and Gabriel Garang Aher Arol.
Neither could the chair of the Tanzania Eala chapter nor the country’s MPs in the regional Assembly be reached yesterday to comment on this.
On Wednesday, four of the Tanzanian lawmakers led by the chair of the chapter Dr Abdullah Makame and the outspoken Dr Ngwaru Maghembe threatened Tanzania may continue to boycott Eala sessions due to anomalies seen during the election of the Speaker.
Tanzania and Burundi MPs boycotted the election of Rwanda’s lawmaker Martin Ngoga as the new Speaker on Tuesday, citing a number of irregularities.
