The new speaker, Martin Ngoga from Rwanda takes the oath of office on
December 19, 2017. He is now facing an uphill task of uniting a divided
house amid growing differences between member states in the regional
bloc. PHOTO COURTESY | EALA
Martin Ngoga, a former prosecutor-general in Rwanda, was on
Tuesday elected Speaker of the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA),
amid sharp divisions among member states.
Mr Ngoga,
who becomes the first Rwandan to serve in the position since the country
joined the East African Community, garnered 33 votes in the second
round of the vote to beat Burundi’s Leontine Nzeyimana, who got only
three votes. The disputed vote was marred by boycotts by Burundian and
Tanzanian legislators.
Mr Ngoga won the first round of
the election which also featured Tanzania’s Alhaj Adam Kimbisa, with 35
of the 36 votes cast after all the 18 MPs from Tanzania and Burundi
boycotted the vote. He, however, failed to meet the mandatory two-thirds
vote required for one to be declared winner.
According
to EALA rules, a run-off vote is conducted between the two leading
candidates in the first round, if the leading candidate cannot garner
two thirds of votes from the 54 legislators.
Opposition
The
election, earlier slated for Monday, was pushed to Tuesday following
divisions among legislators on which member states should field
candidates.
The candidature of Mr Kimbisa (of
Tanzania) was strongly opposed by Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda, who argued
that the position should be held on a rotational basis.
Tanzania’s
Abdulrahman Kinana served as EALA’s first speaker between 2001 and
2007, and Kenya’s Abdirahin Haithar Abdi succeeded him and served until
2012.
Uganda’s Margaret Nnatogo Zziwa was then elected
but was impeached in 2014 after serving only two years, and was
replaced by another Ugandan, Daniel Kidega.
On Monday,
Ugandan legislator Fred Mbidde Mukasa tabled a motion in the House to
object the candidature of Mr Kimbisa, saying it was against the EAC
Treaty. According to Mukasa, only South Sudan, Rwanda and Burundi were
eligible to field candidates as per the EALA Rules of Procedures that
require that the speaker is elected on a rotational basis.
Growing differences
Mr
Ngoga, who takes over from Kidega, is now facing an uphill task of
uniting a divided house amid growing differences between member states
in the regional bloc.
In March, five EALA MPs from Burundi skipped the assembly’s sitting in Kigali citing security concerns.
Diplomatic
relations between Rwanda and Burundi have been deteriorated since 2015,
when Bujumbura accused Kigali of aiding the failed May 2015 coup
attempt, an allegation Rwanda denies.
In 2016, Burundi
banned exports to Rwanda, mainly foodstuff, and restricted movement at
its borders with Rwanda, a move experts said violated the EAC Common
Market Protocol.
EALA has 54 legislators; nine from
each of the six member states; Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi
and the recently admitted South Sudan.
In his
acceptance speech, Mr Ngoga promised to rise above partisan interests
and divisions, to push the regional integration agenda forward and to
save the bloc from further divisions.
“I am ready to
work with all of you now that we are past this event,” he said alluding
to the divisions affecting the business of the house. He also pointed
that the delay to compose the House committees had considerable effect
on the region. He said that the 4th EALA will focus on providing the
legal frameworks needed to steer key regional integration projects among
member states.
Mr Ngoga becomes the fifth speaker and
his tenure is expected to end in 2022. However, boycotting members have
threatened to challenge his election at the East African Court of
Justice, a move likely to entrench seeds of discord in regional
integration.
Reported by Victor Kiprop, Havyarimana Moses and Edmund Kagire.
Reported by Victor Kiprop, Havyarimana Moses and Edmund Kagire.
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