The Speaker of the East African Legislative Assembly (Eala) is considering taking legal action against the Ugandan representatives in the regional Parliament over truancy.
The House was on January 31, 2013, the last day of the Eala sitting in Bujumbura, Burundi, seriously disrupted.
Eala Speaker Margaret Zziwa, also Ugandan, had to adjourn proceedings of the House for 15 minutes over lack of quorum.
An inside source told the Political Platform that Ms Zziwa suspended the proceedings following an Eala member from Rwanda Patricia Hajabakiga pleading with the House to look for the absent lawmakers.
Rule 13 stipulates that the quorum of House or a committee of the whole assembly shall be 12 elected members, provided it is composed of at least three of the elected members from each partner state.
“If at any time of sitting, or when the House is in committee, any member objects that there is no quorum present, the Speaker or the Chairman shall, on ascertaining it to be true, suspend the proceedings of the House for an interval of 15 minutes during which a bell shall be rung,” reads the rule.
It further says that if on resumption of proceedings after the expiry of the 15 minutes, the number of members present is still less than 12, the Speaker or the Chairman, as the case may be, shall adjourn the House or the committee of the whole House.
After efforts to trace the Eala members proved futile, sergeant at arm Ezekiel Migosi conducted a roll call, which confirmed that almost all Ugandan representatives were absent.
The Eala Speaker announced the attendance of the regional members from each country. All eight members from Burundian were present, as one was out on permission.
The attendance of the Eala members from Kenya was four. Two of them though had asked for permission, three others were nowhere to be seen.
While all nine lawmakers from Rwanda were present, seven Eala members from Tanzanian were present. One of them was on an excuse duty and another one was outside of Parliament hall.
On the Ugandan side, only two representatives had asked for permission, while seven others had snubbed the sitting for unknown reasons.
Adjourning the Eala session until April 2013 due to the dearth of quorum, Ms Zziwa said she would consult the counsel to the EAC in order to advise the apt action to be taken against the absent MPs.
Efforts to get word from counsel to the EAC Wilbert Kahwa and the Eala Senior Public Relations officer Bobi Odiko proved futile as both were out of the country on official duties.
But lawyers privy to the Eala rules told the Political Platform, however, that there was nothing in the Rules of Procedure of the House enabling the Speaker to punish errant members at the moment.
To an extent, nonetheless, rule 52 allows for suspension of members if they are grossly disorderly, but in this case, a motion must be moved.
However, one of the Eala members told the Political Platform that Eala is set to amend the procedures at a later date to ‘tighten them’.
Anna Mghwira, a Tanzanian political commentator, has voiced her support for the first female Eala Speaker to punish members of the august House for absenteeism in a bid to curb the challenge of poor attendance among lawmakers in the region.
“In addition to punishing the absentees at the Eala level, the Ugandan national Parliament should also consider questioning its representatives at the regional assembly,” she explained.
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