From New Vision

The East African Court of Justice (EACJ) has faulted the election of Tanzania’s representatives to the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA), saying it violated Article 50(1) of the EAC Treaty.

The judgment was delivered on September 26 by the First Instance division of the court based in the Tanzanian city of Arusha. However, the court did not annul the election of the nine representatives.

The judgment declared that the election was premised on only political parties as the sole grouping, as opposed to all other groups envisaged in Article 50(1) of the Treaty.

Article 50 (1) of the Treaty, stipulates that: The National Assembly of each Partner State shall elect, not from among its members, nine member s of the Assembly, who shall represent as much as it is feasible, the various political parties represented in the National Assembly, shades of opinion, gender and other special interest groups in that Partner State, in a accordance with such procedure as the National Assembly of each Partner State may determine.

The elections were held on March 17, 2012 at the Tanzanian National Assembly.

The case arose in 2012 when Anthony Calist Komu, a member of Tanzania’s political party Chama Cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (CHADEMA) filed a petition against the Attorney General of the United Republic of Tanzania.

Read more at New Vision