EACJ blocks Somalia’s new EALA members over contested Vote

In October, Somalia’s bicameral Federal Parliament elected nine representatives to the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA), marking the country’s first legislative participation in the East African Community (EAC). Somalia officially joined the EAC in March 2024 and was formally admitted in November that same year.

The newly elected members were expected to take up their seats at EALA headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania, serving alongside legislators from other member states. The representatives include Ambassador Zahra Ali Hassan, Dr. Abdisalam Omer, Faisal Roble, Abdirahman Bashir Shariff, and Ilham Ali Gassar, among others. Their selection was overseen by the Interim Committee on the Selection and Election of EALA Representatives.

A dispute quickly emerged over the fairness of the selection process. The East African Court of Justice (EACJ) has temporarily barred the nine Somali nominees from being sworn in after three Somali citizens, including a sitting Member of Parliament, filed a legal challenge. The applicants argue that the election process was rushed, lacked transparency, and disproportionately favored the ruling bloc and certain clans, amounting to what they describe as an “unfair and illegal process.”

Ambassador Awil, one of the three individuals who submitted the lawsuit and who spoke to Universal TV, addressed the case, accusing the government of failing to administer the election within a legal framework. He stated that the government has disregarded all existing laws. He further added, “We are not targeting any individual with this lawsuit; rather, we are challenging and rejecting the troubling direction in which Somalia is heading.”

Before addressing the substance of the complaint, the Court examined whether it had jurisdiction. It ruled that it may hear such cases only before nominees are officially sworn in. Because Somalia’s nine representatives had not yet taken their oaths, the Court confirmed that it could proceed. This ruling aligns with earlier precedents involving election disputes from Kenya, Uganda, and South Sudan.

The Court found that the applicants had presented a prima facie case warranting full investigation. It further determined that allowing the nominees to assume office before the case was resolved could cause harm that might be difficult to reverse. In contrast, the judges noted that the potential harm caused by delaying the swearing-in was significantly smaller than the risk of seating members whose election might later be invalidated.

Noting the need to safeguard the integrity and fairness of EALA, the Court ordered that the nine nominees must not be sworn in or recognized as official legislators until the case is fully heard and decided. The ruling temporarily suspends Somalia’s full legislative participation in the EAC.

“The Court prohibited convening, oath-administering, recognizing, seating, or otherwise treating as validly elected representatives of the Federal Republic of Somalia the nine individuals whose names were transmitted by the Federal Parliament, or any other persons purporting to have been elected under the impugned process,” the judgment reads.

The Court has certified the case as urgent and scheduled it for a priority hearing. The fate of the nine representatives in EALA now depends on the final judgment on the validity of the election process.

Responding to media reports, Somalia’s ambassador to Tanzania and Eat Africa community Ilyas Ali Hassan wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that “claims that the East African Court of Justice has ruled on Somalia’s EALA representatives are incorrect,” clarifying that “the Court has only certified the case as urgent and rescheduled the date for delivering its final judgment, to be heard on a priority basis.”

Somalia became the eighth Partner State of the EAC after depositing its instrument of ratification of the Treaty of Accession. However, the latest court ruling has renewed scrutiny of Somalia’s electoral practices, which observers have long argued remain vulnerable to widespread and entrenched political corruption.