Bhanji now accused of assaulting fellow Tanzania Eala member

Nairobi/Arusha. Kenyan police are investigating an incident in which a Tanzanian member of the East African Legislative Assembly (Eala) allegedly assaulted a fellow lawmaker and compatriot in Nairobi on Tuesday.

Ms Shy-Rose Bhanji allegedly confronted and hit Dr Nderakindo Kessy outside the debating chamber. Ms Bhanji could not be reached for comment yesterday.

Eala insiders linked the incident with the dispute pitting members who want to oust Eala Speaker Margaret Zziwa against those supporting the embattled Ugandan head of the assembly.

Ms Zziwa, who was elected in 2012, has since earlier this year been battling accusations of incompetence, nepotism and intimidation of lawmakers and staff.

Dr Kessy said in the statement she recorded at Parliament Police Station that Ms Bhanji attacked her shortly after the assembly was adjourned following its official opening on Tuesday.

Eyewitnesses, including some Eala MPs, said Ms Bhanji first elbowed Dr Kessy as they filed out of the hall.

Dr Kessy told The Citizen by telephone yesterday that was treated at a nearby hospital and her back was still painful.

On Monday, Dr Kessy read out a resolution in which some MPs vowed to continue with their push to remove the Speaker and punish Ms Bhanji for alleged misconduct.

Dr Kessy is the secretary of the “Crisis Committee” formed by some Eala MPs in Kigali last month to push for the removal of Ms Zziwa as speaker and Ms Bhanji from the Eala Commission.

Tanzanian MPs are required to reach a consensus on the leadership crisis and the pending motion to remove Ms Bhanji as a commission member.

Ms Bhanji was accused, among other things, of being drunk and disorderly, on a flight to Brussels last month, but she said in Dar last week that her detractors had not put the accusations in writing and were just engaging in “gossip”.

“If indeed I was drunk and violent on the plane, I would have been arrested and charged in accordance with international air safety regulations. This did not happen…these allegations are false. This is part of a character assassination plot that is now in top gear following my refusal to be part of the group that wants to impeach Zziwa,” she said.

The Eala Commission oversees the six committees of the regional MPs and is composed of the Speaker, chairperson of the EAC Council of Ministers and two MPs from each of the five partner states. The Speaker chairs the commission, which nominates members of the Eala committees.

Eala Senior Public Relations Officer Bobi Odiko said in a statement to The Citizen that Dr Kessy sought treatment after Tuesday’s incident and was escorted to hospital by several Eala MPs.

The Minister for East African Cooperation, Mr Samuel Sitta, told The Citizen yesterday that the matter had been resolved.

“The information I have right now is that the two MPs have been brought together and reconciled. It was a minor thing and not a criminal offence as the Sergeant-at-Arms told police,” Mr Sitta said, adding that he had directed his deputy, Mr Abdallah Sadala, to handle the matter.

There were reports yesterday that some parties were planning to go to court because they were dissatisfied with the way the Eala was conducting its activities and would seek he amendment of the EAC Treaty by the Summit of the Heads of State. A source close to Eala said two committees could not meet on Monday as scheduled, ostensibly for lack of quorum.

The chairpersons of four of the five sectoral committees tendered their resignations to the Speaker on October 29 in Kigali when the assembly met in Kigali on the same day a motion was tabled seeking to have Ms Bhanji expelled from the Eala Commission for alleged gross misconduct during an overseas tour by members.

The troubled regional assembly was to start business in Nairobi with committee meetings on Monday, but there were instead two press conferences called by rival camps.

One was addressed by Ms Zziwa, who denied she was the cause of the current crisis.

Speakers at the other press conference demanded the resignation of Ms Zziwa, accusing her of “poor leadership”.