EALA MPs suspend speaker for 21 days

The East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) on Wednesday passed a resolution to suspend Speaker Margaret Nantongo Zziwa, pending completion of investigations into her conduct.

The resolution was reached during an extraordinary sitting in Nairobi. The suspension was sponsored by 32 of the assembly’s 45 members, which is more than the required two thirds. 

Ms Zziwa has since her election as Speaker been involved in several battles with other members; most which were intended to remove her as speaker. 

In April, Peter Mathuki, a Kenyan EALA representative tabled a motion to impeach Zziwa referring to misconduct, poor governance, poor leadership skills, abuse of office, and disrespect of members and staff. This move collapsed, since Zziwa ruled on the Motion for her removal to have fallen short of the requirements of signatures of at least four elected Members from each Partner State. 

The Motion for Ms Zziwa’s removal from office, which was cut short on April 1, has now been revived and referred to the Legal Rules and Privileges Committee for investigations in accordance with Rule 9 (4) of the Rules of Procedure. The Committee has been given 21 days within which to finalise the investigations and to report back to the House. 

MP Chris Opoka-Okumu was elected as the interim speaker during Zziwa’s suspension.

Source: Daily Monitor