The East African Court of Justice (EACJ) has thrown out the case filed against Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya to stop the Tripartite initiative for lack of insufficient material.
The case which was filed in the court’s First Instance Division was put forward by three citizens of the United Republic of Tanzania who are seeking sanctions on the decisions taken by the three EAC countries in the absence of Tanzania.
In their petition, the Tanzanian nationals said that the agreements by the three states were against the protocol governing the formation of EAC.
However, the court on Wednesday found that the Applicants had provided insufficient material for the Court to make a decision which prompted the court to take the decision to adjourn the case until February 2014 when the petition file is full and all respondents in the case served.
The court also ordered the Applicants to file all the necessary documents in English which is the official language of the Community since all documents in support of the matter were in the Kiswahili language and had not been translated in accordance with Article 137 of the EAC Treaty.
The petitioners who include Hatibu Msanga, David Geofrey Makatha and John Adam Bwenda all of Arusha Tanzania claim that the Tripartite initiative is a breach of the EAC protocol.
The contested initiative brings together the three countries to fast track regional development through infrastructure, trade and political and economic integration.
At the inaugural Tripartite Summit held in Entebbe in June this year, leaders of Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda spearheaded different components of joint projects: Uganda committed to lead the railway development and political federation sector; Rwanda on customs, single tourist visa and East African Community e-identity card; and Kenya on the implementation of the oil pipeline and electricity generation.
