Parliament of Uganda forced their netball match against Tanzania to be postponed after complaining that the Dodoma legislators had fielded an outsider.
Their concern was that Imelda Hango, who plays for the Tanzanian Parliamentary team, was not actually an MP but just a staff at the Bunge Office in Dodoma.
Worse still, Imelda also plays for the national netball team, Taifa Queens, and as far as Ugandan Legislators are concerned, the East African Parliamentary Games are not supposed to have accomplished mainstream sport people in any of the line-ups.
A heated argument ensued at the beginning of the game inside the Sheikh Amri Abeid Stadium and eventually the organizers were forced to form a special committee to address the situation.
Tanzania and Uganda apparently have a bone to pick with each other as far as the Parliamentary netball slotting is concerned.
The two teams met in the final match last year in the Uganda capital Kampala and the Tanzanians defeated the hosts at their home ground.
Tanzania are now expected to work hard in retaining the trophy they won after edging out Uganda 35-33 in the closely contested final.
In an earlier netball match yesterday, Kenya earned a walkover against Burundi, who failed to field a team. Burundi also arrived late for the Games while their immediate neighbours, Rwanda, have pulled out.
In football, defending champions Uganda consolidated their claim to retain the title after defeating the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) 3-0.
Arusha is hosting the 5th edition of the Inter-Parliamentary Games, which are now experiencing tension among respective national teams.
BY MARC NKWAME, Tanzania Daily News