Court discontinues case against EAC states

By Cyprian Musoke

The East African Court of Justice (EACJ) in Arusha has discontinued a case filed by three citizens of Tanzania against the Secretary General of the East African Community(EAC) and the Attorney Generals of Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda.

The three, Ally Hatibu Msanga, David Geofrey Makatha and John Adam Bwenda who filed the case in February 24 2015 sought to declare actions of Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda contrary to the EAC Treaty as the three were signing protocols minus their partners.

“The subject matter of the main case was challenging the resolutions and Communiqués made at the meetings held by the 3 Partner States Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda (2nd, 3rd and 4th Respondents),” a court communiqué stated.

The meetings, it added were held on 24 and 25 June 2013 in Entebbe Uganda, 28 August 2013 in Mombasa Kenya and 28 October, 2013 in Kigali Rwanda with the exclusion of the United Republic of Tanzania and the Republic of Burundi and were therefore in contravention of the Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community.

“The applicants were therefore seeking declaratory orders that the Republics of Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda acts infringed the Treaty and a declaration that the failure to report and investigate by the Secretary General of the East African Community was in breach of the Treaty,” it added.

However, it later emerged, counsel for the applicants applied that Court discontinues the case against the three countries “due to financial hardships that his clients are suffering which will not allow them to continue with the Court proceedings.”
“Counsels for the respondents did not oppose to the application but sought to be awarded costs by the applicants. They explained that they invested time and money on this matter in terms of researching and attending the Court sessions and that the applicants did not show any cooperation with the respondents for the advancement of the Court proceedings,” the court statement read.

The court therefore allowed the application for discontinuance of the entire case and ordered that costs be paid to the Respondents. When New Vision contacted the Attorney General’s office, the amount could not be readily established as they were still being computed.

The East African Court of Justice is one of the organs of the EEAC established under Article 9 of the EAC Treaty.
Established in November 2001, the Court's major responsibility is to ensure the adherence to law in the interpretation and application of and compliance with the EAC Treaty.

 Arusha is the temporary seat of the Court until the Summit determines its permanent seat. The EACJ sub-registries are available in the Partner States at the premises of the respective National Courts.