The East African Court of Justice (EACJ) has announced its final decision upholding Martin Ngoga ‘s election as Speaker of the East African Legislative
The case follows Burundi ‘s appeal against the December 2017 election in which Ngoga, a Rwandan, was elected as EALA ‘s fifth Speaker after boycotting lawmakers from Burundi and Tanzania during the second round of voting.
The election went on and saw Ngoga win in place of Daniel Fred Kidega of Uganda.
Burundi challenged the results of the elections and promptly filed a case with the EACJ.
The case was first dismissed in July last year by the First Instance Division of the EACJ which ruled that the election had not in any way violated the EAC Treaty.
At the time , the court said Burundi had not given evidence that there was indeed any violation of electoral procedures.
However the ruling was appealed by Burundi.
Ugandan lawmaker Fred Mukasa Mbidde said after Burundi lost the first case that the court’s decision was a display of East Africans’ determination to prefer order to anarchy.
Burundi ‘s government, he said, should refrain from seeking to order members around the assembly, even on matters of who should govern them.
In a statement issued Thursday, June 4, the court said it had four to one judges with majority judgment, dismissing the case with costs to both the respondent and the intervener.
“Court has held that the Appeal was contrary to Art 35 of the Treaty on appeals requiring such to be based on matters of law or/and procedural errors. Appeal dismissed with costs to the Intervenor Hon Mukasa Fred Mbidde and respondent EAC on both the 1st instance and appellate court levels,” it says.
The Fourth Assembly and the tenure of Ngoga began in 2017 and will end in 2022.
