RT. HON. DR. MARGARET ZZIWA v. THE SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY

1. The Application dated 10th December 2014 is premised on Article 39 of the Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community (hereinafter referred to as the “Treaty”) and Rules 21and 22 of the East African Court of Justice Rules of Procedure (hereinafter referred to as “the Rules”). The Applicant, Rt. Hon. Margaret Zziwa, is the Speaker of the East African Legislative Assembly (hereinafter referred to as the “ EALA”) and she seeks ex-parte orders in the following terms:
“a) This Honorable Court be pleased to dispense with service of this Notice of Motion and hear the Motion and grant an ex-parte order in the First Instance Court owing to the urgency of the matter [sic];
b) This Honorable Court be pleased to dispense with some Rules in the first instance as the delay that shall be caused by proceeding in the ordinary way would entail irreparable injustice in relation to these proceedings owing to the urgency of the matter [sic];
c) The East African Legislative Assembly is prohibited and restrained from convening on the 17th December 2014 for purposes of considering the Committee Report intended to move a Motion for a resolution to remove the Applicant/Speaker of the EALA from office.
d) The Assembly Committee of Legal, Rules and Privileges be restrained from conducting any further investigations in this matter or tabling any report in the Assembly pending the hearing and determination of the Reference filed in this Honorable Court.
e) That costs of and incidental to this Application be provided for.”
2. The Application is supported by grounds on the face of it as well as an Affidavit in support sworn by the Applicant on 10th December 2014. We have taken note of both the said grounds as well as the contents of the Affidavit.
3. In brief, what happened was that sometime in March 2014, some Members of the EALA gave notice of intention to move a Motion for a resolution to remove the Applicant from Office. Proceedings in that regard were later terminated by the Applicant in a Ruling delivered on 4th June 2014 for reasons that some of the Members of the Assembly had withdrawn their support for the resolution. A Reference filed by the Applicant in this Court (EACJ Reference No. 3 of 2014) was also withdrawn for the same reasons.