The new speaker, Martin Ngoga from Rwanda takes the oath of office on December 19, 2017. He is now facing an uphill task of uniting a divided house amid growing differences between member states in the regional bloc. PHOTO COURTESY | EALA
Martin Ngoga, a former prosecutor-general in Rwanda, was on Tuesday elected Speaker of the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA), amid sharp divisions among member states.
Mr Ngoga, who becomes the first Rwandan to serve in the position since the country joined the East African Community, garnered 33 votes in the second round of the vote to beat Burundi’s Leontine Nzeyimana, who got only three votes. The disputed vote was marred by boycotts by Burundian and Tanzanian legislators.
