EA court rejects Kenyan nomination of regional MPs

The East African Court of Justice has ruled null and void the Kenyan nomination of its representatives to the regional parliament.

The regional court made the ruling in accordance with the Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community, according to a court statement available here on Saturday.

The court ruled that Kenya, one of the founding members of the community, had breached the community's treaty by nominating instead of electing its proportion of the nine representatives to sit in the East African Legislative Assembly.

The court ruling meant that Kenya might have to propose through election its regional members of parliament for the regional legislative body.

Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, each electing nine of its lawmakers to sit in the East African Legislative Assembly, are the founding countries of the regional economic integration bloc that now also includes Burundi and Rwanda as members.

The Kenyan case was brought to the court in November last year and the court ruled at that time against the swearing-in in the regional parliament by all the nine lawmakers nominated by the Kenyan parliament.

The court ordered the secretary-general of the East African Community and the clerk of the East African Legislative Assembly not to recognize the nine Kenyan nominees nor to permit them to participate in any function of the regional parliament until the determination of the case.

Source: Xinhua