This archive report was first published on 3 July 2019.
On July 3, 2019, the East African Court of Justice (EACJ) threw out a case filed by the Burundi government to challenge the election of the current East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) Speaker Martin Ngoga.
The court ruled that the Burundi government failed to present key documents, including EALA attendance records, which would have established whether there was a requisite quorum during the EALA speaker's election.
Presiding judges said that the records would have been crucial in determining the validity of the election.
“Quite clearly, those honourable (EALA) members were more competent witnesses to attest the circumstances in which that election was conducted than Mr Nestor Kayobera (counsel for the plaintiffs), who was not present in the House at the time,” panel leader Justice Monica Mugenyi said.
Mr Nestor Kayobera, the counsel representing Burundi, had argued that Mr Ngoga was elected Speaker at a December 19, 2017 session of the EALA despite the absence of members of the assembly from both Burundi and Tanzania.
However, the court ruled that the absence of the members did not invalidate the election, citing Rule 6(9) (c) of the EALA Rules of Procedure, which states that lawmakers from Burundi and Tanzania had liberty not to vote.
Dr Anthony Kafumbe, representing the EAC Secretary General, argued that quorum was only applicable when the House was duly constituted, and that the presence of the EALA members from Burundi and Tanzania in the precincts of the House comprised the voting quorum.
Dr Kafumbe also called for the case to be dismissed with costs to the Burundi government, but the judges ruled that each party in the case would bear its own costs.
