THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY & MUKASA FRED MBIDDE v. THE SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY & ANOTHER

It behoves us to mention right from the outset that the instant application arises from Reference No.6 of 2011 filed in this Court
by the first Applicant, a Political Party Organisation duly registered in the Republic of Uganda and the second Applicant, its legal advisor.

The gravamen of the complaint of the Applicants, if we may put it in a nutshell, is that the Government of Uganda and its Parliament have not to-date amended the Rules of Procedures of Parliament, 2006 (hereinafter referred to for brevity as the “Rules”), in order to conform to the provisions of Article 50 of the Treaty which provides for election of members of the EALA.

In the Reference, the Applicants are seeking the following declaratory orders:

(a) That Rules 11(1) and Appendix B r 3, 10 and 11 of the Rules of Procedure of the Parliament of Uganda, 2006 which are going to be used by the Parliament of Uganda in the election of the members of the East African Legislative Assembly in the upcoming elections are inconsistent with and contravene Articles 21(1) and (2), 29 (1) (e), 89(1) and 94 (1) of the Constitution of the Republic of Uganda in that the aforesaid infringement will have the effects of limiting the freedom and rights of the First Applicant to associate in vying for the upcoming elections for the representatives of EALA. Apart from the foregoing, the aforesaid Rules complained of do not allow the Members of Parliament of Uganda to elect the Members of EALA.

(b) That the inaction and the loud silence by both the Government and the Parliament of Uganda in not amending and realigning the aforesaid Rules which are going to be used by the Parliament of Uganda in the upcoming elections for members of EALA in accordance with Article 50 of the Treaty, is an infringement of the said Article.

(c) That the Secretary General of the East African Community has failed to supervise the Government of Uganda to ensure that the Parliament of Uganda amends its laws in order to make them conform to Article 50 of the Treaty.