| dc.description.abstract | As a regional economic bloc, the main objectives of
the East African Community (EAC) s the "widening and
deepening cooperation among its Partner States in
among other areas the political, economic, social and
cultural fields. "1 In order to achieve these objectives, the
Treaty for the establishment of the East Africa Community
(Treaty) sets out fundamental and operational principles
to govern the achievement of the objectives.2 In the con
text of Law of Economic Integration, principles founded in
a Treaty are generally regarded both as a source of law
and guidelines on which states in an integration bloc are
expected to adhere to.3 The fundamental principles alluded to above include;
"good governance including the adherence to the
principles of democracy, the rule of law ... transparency,
gender equality as well as the promotion and protection
of human and people's rights in accordance with the
provisions of the African Charter on Human and Peoples
Rights. "4 On the other hand the operational principes
which are aimed at governing the practical achieve
ment of the objectives include among others "a people
centred and market driven economy. "5 The East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) is currently in
the process of constituting its membership for the fourth
Assembly since its inception. Entry into EALA (membership
is drawn from each of the Partner States)6, follows a pro
cess of election, conducted by the Parliament of each
Partner State, in accordance with the rules developed by
the Parliament of the Partner State.7
In Kenya, the eection of the members to the EALA has
hit a deadlock on account of the failure by the Minority
Coalition (Cord) to submit more names for election,8 as
proposed by the Joint Parliamentary Select Committee
on Election of Members to the EALA(JPSC).9 Athough the
formua on the sharing of slots by the both the Majority and
Minority Coalition has been agreed, the present impasse
threatens to derail the entire process.
This piece challenges the formula adopted by Parliament
on the sharing of slots. The argument propounded here
is that the formula largely ignores the participatory role .... | en_US |
