Tanzanian members in the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) staged a walkout to register their protest on the conduct of business in the House.
East African Legislative Assembly
Shortly after the House started business, Mr Abdallah Mwinyi rose and said that some members were bulldozing others by forcing their motions to be endorsed.
“EALA is supposed to operate democratically in decision-making and once a decision is made, it must be respected by all members even those who were against it. But in this House those who are opposed to issues simply walk out.
“We witnessed this on Tuesday. This is not the best way of doing things. This tarnishes the credibility of EALA and shows disrespect to the Speaker,” Mr Mwinyi said and moved out of the debating chamber.
He was followed by Ms Shy-Rose Bhanji, Ms Nderakindo Kessy and Mr Twaha Taslima. Mr Makongoro Nyerere remained in the House for the purpose of moving a motion of adjournment for lack of quorum.
Tanzania has nine EALA members and according to regulations, the session cannot proceed if a country has less than half of its legislators. Speaking to journalists, the MPs said our plan is aimed at enforcing discipline and democracy in the assembly as opposed to dictatorial tendencies.
Ms Bhanji said some MPs push their agenda by force or rude tricks. “We have decided to hit back harder,” she said.
The MPs were yesterday scheduled to deliberate a motion introduced by a Kenyan legislator who wanted EALA sessions to be held on rotational basis among member states. On Tuesday there was disagreement on issues and more than half of all the EALA MPs walked out.
By JOHN KULEKANA in Arusha and ALVAR MWAKYUSA in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania Daily News
