All parties to the case challenging the election of East African Legislative Assembly (Eala) Speaker Martin Ngoga in 2017 finished their final submissions on Thursday, and the Appellate Division of the East African Court of Justice is expected to rule on the matter on a date to be announced later.
Burundi, through its Attorney General’s office, is challenging the election of Mr Ngoga, a Rwandan, on grounds that Eala rules of procedure were violated.
All 18 Eala members from Burundi and Tanzania boycotted the election protesting “violation” of the rule covering rotation of the Speaker’s post among partner states. Burundi maintained that it was their turn to fill the post after the previous Speakers came from Tanzania (Abdulrahman Kinana), Kenya (Abdirahim Abdi) and Uganda (Daniel Kidega).
