By FRED OLUOCH

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The East African Legislative Assembly remains in limbo as Kenya awaits the new parliament to settle down and pass the nominees list.

The earliest Kenya can name the nine members is the second week of October, according to observers. And this will only happen if the 12th Parliament gives it first priority on its agenda.

During the 11th Parliament, members of the ruling Jubilee Party and the opposition Coalition for Reforms and Democracy disagreed on the minimum number of names parties are supposed to present for elections.

This, coupled with the withdrawal of the South Sudanese nominees, paralysed the operations of the Eala. The Assembly was supposed to be inaugurated on June 4.

READ: EALA in limbo over Kenya, South Sudan MPs

Without Eala sitting, it means that there will be no organ to put pressure on partner states to assent to pending Bills — the Civic Education for Integration Bill 2015, the Customs Management (Amendment) Bill 2015 and the Co-operative Societies Bill 2015.

In Nairobi, the new MPs will be sworn in on August 31, after which they go for a one week orientation on Standing Orders and committee functions. The president will then inaugurate parliament which is then likely to take a week constituting various committees — including a joint committee to deal with the Eala elections.

Abubakar Zein, an outgoing member the Eala third Assembly told The EastAfrican that it will depend on whether the Kenyan leadership and parliament are concerned about the delayed operations of Eala and list it as a priority agenda.

In South Sudan, President Salva Kiir withdrew the names of the nine members after a citizen, Wani Santino Jada, filed an application at the East African Court of Justice stating that the elections were not conducted according to the East African Community Treaty rules.

Juba members

South Sudan carried out fresh elections on August 3, but the list is still with the presidency. There were 29 candidates who contested for the nine slots, in which six men were elected through voting, while three females were elected unopposed. Five were drawn from the ruling SPLM, three were independents while one came from the rebel group, SPLM-IO.

In Kenya the process must start afresh with the formation of the joint Eala election committee, made up of members of the National Assembly and the Senate.

The committee will then advertise for applications for seven days, then take another one week to shortlist candidates before conducting interviews.

Parliament will then set the date for the election of the members. The nine will then be gazetted in both the Kenyan and the EAC gazette.

Eala Rules of Procedure say that for a quorum to be realised for the swearing-in, all partner states must be represented.

But with the delay, it means that EAC will be without a legislative and oversight organ until some time in November.