By LUKE ANAMI

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Uganda has sensationally sued Kenya at the East African Court of Justice for denying government-owned oil marketer Uganda National Oil Company (Unoc) a licence to operate and handle fuel imports at the Mombasa Port headed for Kampala.

Uganda says in the suit that Kenya’s Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority (Epra) has denied it a licence to import fuel through the Kenyan port and also use the pipeline infrastructure to transport it.

Now all eyes are on the regional court, one that is bogged down by operational and financial problems, and which does not sit regularly to dispense with cases.

The newest case is a result of non-tariff barriers that have been coming up between trading partners in the East African Community, which are blamed for the slow pace of intra-regional trade and integration.

Observers are curious to see how the Uganda vs Kenya case goes, with some saying EAC partners need to normalise conflict resolution outside of the courts.

On previous disputes, government delegations have tried to resolve issues but some have refused to go away, ending up in the regional court.

“We are a region in turmoil, if leaders cannot talk, then the Community is going to be torn into pieces,” warned Yufnalis Okubo, former EACJ registrar.

The EACJ does not have a budget of its own and its decisions are rarely implemented.

Read: Regional court needs more autonomy, says president

Judges lack a full-time calendar to continuously render services and have sittings once or twice in a year to deal with a backlog of cases.

Late last year, Kenyan Judge Charles Nyachae resigned from the EACJ and he is yet to publicly disclose the reasons for the decision announced in a communique of the 23rd Ordinary Summit of the Heads of State.

“The summit took note of the voluntary resignation of Justice Charles Nyachae from Kenya as a judge of the First Instance Division of the East African Court of Justice,” the statement read.

Another challenge the court is facing is a lack of autonomy to run and manage its own affairs, a factor that renders it weak in arbitrating cases and managing its affairs.

Speaking in Kampala, a training for journalists on the role of the court, EACJ president Nestor Kayobera lamented that while the EAC Treaty provides for the impartiality and independence of the court, it has no autonomy, unlike the executive and legislative arms of EAC.

“We need the EACJ to have financial and administrative autonomy to discharge our mandate properly,” Justice Kayobera said.