The First Instance Division on Friday 3rd February 2017, will deliver a judgement in the case filed by Hon. Margaret Nantongo Zziwa versus the Secretary General of the East African Community. Hon. Zziwa’s case alleges that the process of her removal from the Office of EALA Speaker was illegal and an infringement of Articles 53 and 56 of the Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community. 

Hon. Zziwa was the then elected Speaker of the EALA, after her impeachment, the Assembly elected Hon. Daniel Kidega as the Speaker for  EALA up to date.

The Court heard the court oral evidence from witnesses for both parties’ witnesses (the Applicant and Respondent) from 26th to 29th July 2016. Also court heard oral highlights of written submissions by counsels for the parties on 21st November 2016 that concluded the hearing of the case. The judgement will be delivered by the Honourable Judges of the First Instance Division; these are; Lady Justice Monica Mugenyi (Principal Judge), Justice Isaac Lenaola (Deputy Principal Judge), Dr. Justice Faustin Ntezilyayo, Justice Fakihi A. Jundu and Justice Audace Ngiye.

On 15th February, the Appellate Division will also resume sessions which will go up to 28th February 2017. Only four appeals will come up before the Court for scheduling conferences and hearing. All appeals will be brought before the Honourable Judges of the Appellate Division; Dr. Justice Emmanuel Ugirashebuja (President), Justice Liboire Nkurunziza (Vice President), Justice Edward Rutakangwa, Justice Aaron Ringera, and Geoffrey Kiryabwire.

On 28th February the First Instance Division, will again continue with the sessions up to 30th March 2017. A number of cases will come up for hearing, scheduling conferences and delivery of rulings and Judgments. These include; 5 hearings, 4 scheduling conferences, 2 rulings, 1 Judgement and other 2 matters.

The Court seats for a month every quarter due to the ad-hoc nature service of the Judges. Currently the President and the Principal Judge of the court are the only resident Judges in Arusha, other Judges come only when there are sessions or other court business.

All matters will be in open Court 2nd Floor EACJ wing.

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations and the East Africa Community (EAC) have signed a Grant Agreement intended to promote urban and rural agriculture and agribusiness to improve youth employment in the region. The total budget of the Grant is US$ 440,000 for one year.

The agreement, which took place on the margins of the 28th African Union Summit themed “Harnessing Africa’s Demographic Dividend by Investing in Youth”, was signed by Amb Libérat Mfumukeko, the Secretary General for EAC and Dr. Patrick Kormawa, the Subregional Coordinator for Eastern Africa and FAO Representative to the AU and UN Economic Commission for Africa. The EAC Deputy Secretary General for Political Affairs, Mr. Charles Njoroge accompanied Amb. Mfumukeko during the brief ceremony held at the AU Headquarters.

The agreement allows FAO and EAC to find a path for young people to secure decent work opportunities, as well as explore innovative e-business models in the agricultural sector.

Amb. Mfumukeko in his remarks highlighted the positive impact of the agreement by saying “the cooperation with FAO was long overdue, and the current support will go a long way in addressing pertinent issues in East Africa where agriculture is the way of life.”

Despite relatively high economic growth in the Partner States of the East African Community (EAC), youth unemployment remains a great concern for the region, as it slows down economies and causes social problems.

The two institutions have the tools to respond to unemployment in the EAC region. FAO has developed the expertise on youth, agriculture, livelihoods and migration.  EAC, on its part, has prepared its Youth Policy, a corner stone for many emerging public and private initiatives.

Dr. Kormawa, in his address, emphasized the role of the partnership on youth “This Technical cooperation project (TCP) addresses one of the most pressing issues of job creation for youth in the sub region, we at FAO believe that youth employment in agriculture and agribusiness is a way of lifting a significant number of youth out of unemployment and poverty”, he stated.

The agreement aims to enhance the capacity of the target countries and the EAC Secretariat to develop and implement youth-in-agriculture initiatives and to improve the East African youth’s access to information, resources and employment opportunities in the agricultural sector.

Key activities of the new intervention would include the development of a sub-regional strategy and country action plans for promoting decent employment for youth in the agricultural sector; the elaboration of a framework for sustainable youth employment initiatives, the dissemination of best practices, business models and opportunities for youth, and the support to scaling e-business models in agriculture.