Court declines to reinstate Zziwa as EALA Speaker

Ms Margaret Zziwa, the former Speaker of the East African Legislative Assembly, addresses journalists after the judgement at the East African Court of Justice (EACJ) in Arusha on Friday. PHOTO BY ZEPHANIA UBWANI 

In Summary

Court ordered each party to bear its own costs.

By ZEPHANIA UBWANI

The East African Court of Justice has declined to reinstate former Speaker of the East African Legislative Assembly (Eala) Margret Zziwa to the position of the EALA Speaker.

The ruling follows a case filed by Ms Zziwa seeking $2 million (Shs7.1 billion) in compensation for her removal from office.
In today’s ruling, the court also declined to grant special and general damages to the Applicant (Ms Zziwa ) because she contravened Rule 9(6) of the Assembly Rules of Procedure.
The presiding judge of the Arusha based court said Ms Zziwa could not be awarded costs because her conduct might have triggered the actions of her removal.

However Court also declared that the sitting of the Assembly on November 26 2014, presided over by the temporary Speaker was unlawful and that Committee on Legal Rules and Privileges, allowing members of the Assembly who initiated the motion for removal of the Applicant to sit and determine whether she should be removed was a violation of the basic rules of natural justice. Court ordered each party to bear its own costs.