MP under probe over attack on colleague
What you need to know:
- Dr Nderakindo Kessy alleged that after the adjournment on Tuesday, Mrs ShyRose Bhanji elbowed her.
- Tanzanian MPs are seeking consensus as they address a leadership crisis following a pending motion to remove Mrs Bhanji as a member of the Eala Commission.
Police are investigating an incident in which a Tanzanian MP allegedly assaulted her colleague outside County Hall in Nairobi.
Mrs ShyRose Bhanji reportedly hit Dr Nderakindo Kessy and injured her.
The two Tanzanian lawmakers are members of the East Africa Legislative Assembly (Eala), which is holding a session in the city.
In her statement at the Parliament Police Station, Dr Kessy alleged that after the adjournment on Tuesday, Mrs Bhanji elbowed her.
READ RESOLUTION
A day before at a press conference, Dr Kessy read out a resolution that resolved to push for the punishment of the Mrs Bhanji in connection with a previous incident.
Eala senior public relations officer Bobi Odiko told Tanzanian newspaper The Citizen that after the said assault, members accompanied Dr Kessy to a Nairobi hospital for treatment.
“The session went on smoothly, but I was informed that a member elbowed another outside the Chamber at the end of the plenary sitting. I was not at the scene. Give me some time to establish the facts,” Mr Odiko said.
Tanzanian MPs are seeking consensus as they address a leadership crisis following a pending motion to remove Mrs Bhanji as a member of the Eala Commission.
According to The Citizen, Mrs Bhanji was accused of misconduct during a previous sitting.
Dora Byamukama (Uganda) tabled the motion in the House during session in Kigali on October 29.
The motion calls for the removal of the outspoken Mrs Bhanji, alleging that she exhibited misconduct while on a European Union trip to Brussels, Belgium, in September this year.
“During the trip, Ms Bhanji, was accompanied by other Eala members, made derogatory remarks about some East African Community partner states and verbally insulted part of the delegation,” The Citizen reported.
Ms Byamukama wanted the MP removed from the commission, the policy organ of Eala, through secret ballot.
Mrs Bhanji vehemently denied the allegations, claiming that until the House was adjourned indefinitely, she had not been served with any written notice over her alleged misconduct.
She acknowledged, however, that she had some differences with some of Eala members over her firm support for the current Speaker who has been under siege and is threatened with impeachment.
Mrs Bhanji has been quoted as claiming she was under fire for defending the interests of Tanzania in Eala and in other EA integration platforms.
