Another wave of boycotts has rocked the plenary sessions of the East African Legislative Assembly (Eala).
This time around it is over the recently announced East African Community (EAC) staff recruitment.
Ugandan MPs with the support of others from the partner states want the exercise halted over alleged irregularities.
The bone of contention, sources close to the Assembly intimated, is the post of Clerk of Eala which has remained vacant for some time.
Lawmakers from Uganda boycotted the plenary session of the House on Tuesday calling for a halt to the recruitment exercise.
They challenged the candidacy of a Tanzanian national who, sources added, has been shortlisted for the job and stands a better chance to grab the powerful position.
Eala Speaker Martin Karoli Ngoga was forced to adjourn the House on Tuesday for lack of quorum as the Uganda MPs were not there.
The adjournment was also aimed to give room to further consultations on the stand off which has effectively derailed the Eala session.
But when the House reconvened on Wednesday afternoon, it was another turn for the Tanzanian lawmakers to storm out of the sitting.
The Speaker called off the sitting for 15 minutes to allow for more consultations but when he reconvened it, only one Ugandan legislator was inside the chamber.
The House was set to reconvene Thursday 14 october,2021 afternoon during which it would decide as to whether the on-going recruitment of key officials of the EAC should be halted or not.
All the nine Tanzanian MPs were inside the House when it was called off on Wednesday as were nine from South Sudan,eight each from Burundi and Rwanda and seven from Kenya.
Eala had until yesterday not issued an official statement on the stand off, nor has any of its officials clarified on the matter.
By 3pm Thursday, there was no sign at Eala of a session taking place. Unconfirmed sources said it has once again been put off.
However, a Tanzanian MP who spoke on condition of anonymity, said ideally Eala has no powers to halt the EAC recruitment drive.
He said although the Assembly has an oversight role in the EAC activities, it has little or no mandate on appointments.
"The appointing authority as articulated in the EAC Treaty is the Council of Ministers", he told journalists at the EAC.
Other Tanzanian legislators who spoke to this newspaper said a Tanzanian fronted for the plum job Said Othman Yakub is well qualified.
Kennedy Mukulia Ayason, an MP from South Sudan, told The Citizen that fellow MPs from his country supported the issue raised by the Uganda lawmakers.
He said the Ugandans stormed out of the House on Tuesday in protest against the recruitment which, in their opinion, did not reflect "the diversity of the EA region".
He argued that the on-going recruitment should be halted and that there should be "a proper audit" of the short-listed candidates.
The post of Clerk to the regional Assembly (Eala) is among several key positions up for grabs at the EAC organs and institutions recently advertised.
The Clerk not only oversees the day to day management and administration of Eala but also the procedural affairs of the Assembly.
He or she is also the chief executive officer of the organ in charge of finances and preparation of session papers, bills, motions and reports.
No Tanzanian has ever occupied the position of Eala Clerk since the regional Assembly was launched in 2001.
The last Clerk of the Assembly was Kenneth Madette from Uganda who retired a few years ago.
He succeeded Justin Bundi from Kenya who served in the position until about a decade ago when his tenure ended.
Currently, Charles Kadonya, a Tanzanian, is the acting Eala Clerk. He is not among those who applied for the position.
Recently, the EAC released a list of 311 candidates from all the six partner states who have been shortlisted for 46 job slots to be filled.
A total of 84 Tanzanians were among those shortlisted, with a significant number of them vying for the executive positions such as the heads of institutions and directors of a host of departments.
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