Kagame calls for bigger Eala oversight role
President Paul Kagame of Rwanda has stressed the need for the East African Legislative Assembly (Eala) to enhance its oversight role.
This, he said during his address to the House on Monday, would ensure the East African Community (EAC) met its desired objectives.
“We therefore count on you in the oversight role of our regional legislature to help ensure we maintain momentum and stay on course.”
The Rwandan leader, who was opening the Eala meeting in Kigali, lauded the partner states – Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, Burundi, Rwanda and South Sudan – for their significant contribution to the EAC “and for working together to deepen regional integration”.
President Kagame, who led the task force which worked in African Union (AU) reforms, took time to inform the regional legislators on the exercise which is aimed at strengthening the AU by ensuring it is sustainably financed by resources from within the continent.
“We need an African Union that is fit-for-purpose. Our continent must also have a strong and unified voice that clearly communicates the aspirations and positions of Africa on the global stage.”
The President said the heads of state had agreed to change the annual July summit of the continental association into a co-ordination meeting with regional economic blocs, which include the EAC.
“This means that greater contributions will be needed from all of you as the region’s legislators, both as strong advocates for the imperative of reform and as champions for closer cooperation between the EAC and the African Union Commission,” he said.
Eala Speaker Daniel Kidega reiterated the need for the region to collectively address and find solutions to the challenges it faces citing some of them as pursuit for peace and security, drought, climate change and unemployment.
“Ideally, time has come for the EAC to draw on its collective economic, social and intellectual resources to address the imminent challenges it faces,” said, citing challenges facing the bloc asr peace and security, drought, Climate Change, the unemployment bulge and other pressing issues,” he added.
Mr Kidega called for concerted effort towards industrialisation of the region. “There is a need to embrace industrialisation by instituting supportive trade related policies and frameworks that grant partner states the right to nurture nascent industries in order to develop their competitiveness and grow economies.”
He said the EAC was looking towards greatly benefiting from the operationalisation of the single customs territory resulting in increased intra-regional trade, and called for emphasis on investor confidence, enterprise and creation of a conducive environment to spur trade.
The Speaker of the Rwanda Senate, Mr Bernard Makuza, commended the rotational sittings, noting that they had enabled regular interactions with citizens of the partner states. He said it was therefore necessary to reflect on the developments over the last five years at the Assembly and at the EAC while calling for the intensification of the integration process.
Three key bills are lined up for debate during the Kigali sitting.
Thet are the EAC Gender Equality and Development Bill, 2016, the EAC Polythene Materials Control Bill, 2016 and the EAC Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights Bill, 2016.