20.A common thread in the Applicant’s case was that the situation in
Burundi was dangerously perilous hence the need for urgent
intervention, and if Mr. Nkurunziza ran for another term in office
the situation would degenerate and occasion untold suffering to the
Burundian and EAC citizenry. This argument was advanced as
demonstration of the irreparable injury that the Burundian people
stood to suffer, as well as in support of the notion that the balance
of convenience in this matter lay with the Applicant, as a
representative of the people of Burundi. However, learned Counsel
for the First Respondent appeared to contest that position and
attributed the insecurity and civic disorder in Burundi to some of
the Applicant’s members, including Mr. Janvier Bigirimana.
Learned Counsel questioned the injury the Applicant specifically
stood to suffer in the event that this Application was disallowed.
21. We note that Mr. Kayobera’s question as to the specific injury the
Applicant stood to suffer remained unanswered.
Similarly, the
Applicant did not rebut the First Respondent’s submission that some of
the Applicant’s members were fanning the civic disorder in Burundi.
In his reply, learned Counsel for the Applicant simply acknowledged
Mr. Bigirimana as an official in the Applicant entity. In any event, we
were not satisfactorily addressed on the issue of whether or not
whatever injury the Applicant was likely to suffer could not be
adequately compensated by damages. Consequently, we find that the
Applicant has not sufficiently demonstrated the irreparable injury it
stood to suffer if this Application were disallowed or that the said
injury could not be compensated by damages.
Reference No. 5 of 2015
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