The East African Court of Justice announced that it would have to reexamine a case about President Pierre Nkurunziza’s third term this May 24, 2018.
Nestor Kayobera: “Burundi is confident that it will win the case”.
Nestor Kayobera, lawyer of Burundi government, says the latter is ready to go to court and is optimistic that it will win the case although it has not yet got any notification. “The judgment was rendered on May 24 but we have not yet been notified. Since 2007, Burundi has won 24 cases in the East African Court of Justice and this won’t be an exception. We are confident that we will not lose this case,” he says adding that Burundi won the same case twice in 2016.
He says Burundi is the only country that has not lost a single case in the East African Court of Justice. “It is not the most difficult case of all the cases that Burundi has won in international jurisdictions”.
The East African Civil Society Organizations’ Forum, EACSOF and EAC lawyers lodged a complaint in May 2015 after the announcement of the candidacy of Pierre Nkurunziza as president, asking the EAC court of Justice to rule on this case saying president Nkurunziza has violated the constitution. The same court judged unfounded their complaint in 2016.
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