EALA adjourns but motion to censure Zziwa tabled

EALA speaker Zziwa

The East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) adjourned its plenary sessions 'sine die' in Arusha this afternoon after a Motion to impeach Margaret Zziwa was tabled before the House.

Information about indefinite postponement of EALA sessions was confirmed by the senior public relations officer Bob Odiko when reached on phone to explain new developments on the issue.

"It is true the Motion has been tabled and the House has been adjourned indefinitely. The issue is not likely to be debated during the current session" he said.

The Motion was read by Kenyan EALA member Peter Mathuki who was one of the early signatories to have Ms Margaret Nantongo Zziwa removed as a Speaker.

Ms Zziwa,who took over the position in June 2012, has been accused of being incompetent to run the regional Assembly because of alleged poor leadership, dictatorship and favouritism.

The Eala Rules of Procedure had it that for the Speaker to be removed, the Motion shall be signed by at least four elected members from all the five East African Community (EAC) partner states.

The tabling of the Motion to remove Ms Zziwa, the first woman Speaker for EALA flopped on Thursday last week when two Tanzanian MPs Charles Makongoro Nyerere and Maryam Ussi Yahya withdrew their signatures from the Notice of the Motion.

According to Eala Rules of Procedure, the members can remove the Speaker from office if two thirds of them voted against her or him.