Posted in Press Release
The East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) resumes business next week in Kampala, Uganda. The Plenary which takes place from Monday, 16th August 2015 to Friday, 28th August 2015 is the First Meeting of the Fourth Session of the Third Assembly.
President Yoweri Museveni is expected to address a Special Sitting of the Assembly on Friday, 21st August 2015 at the Parliament of Uganda.
The Assembly is to be presided over by the Speaker, Rt Hon. Daniel F. Kidega. Top on the agenda during the two week period are two key Bills which are expected to sail through the 2nd and 3rd Readings respectively. These are the EAC Electronic Transaction Bill, 2014 and the EAC Creative and Cultural Industries Bill, 2015.
The Electronic Transaction Bill, 2014 seeks to meet the need of exploiting electronic transactions in the modern day business transactions. The Bill further wants to promote technology neutrality in applying legislation to electronic communications and transactions and to develop a safe, secure and effective environment for the consumer, business and the Governments of the Partner States to conduct and use electronic transactions. EALA has already undertaken a series of public hearings to source for views from stakeholders on this particular Bill.
On its part, The EAC Creative and Cultural Industries Bill 2015, sailed through the First Reading in January this year. The objective of the Bill is to promote the creative and cultural industries at the EAC.
The Bill seeks to establish the Creative and Cultural Industries Council that shall provide an environment conducive to the enhancement and stimulation of creativity and innovative endeavours among the citizens of the Community. Once formed, the Council shall provide high quality training for skills and creativity development and formulate policies and strategies that shall stimulate creativity and innovations among the youth to ensure long term supply of talents.
Creative and Cultural Industries are considered one of the fastest growing sectors in the global economy and contribute significantly to the Gross Domestic Product of many developed and developing countries.
The House shall also receive a number of reports. They include that of the Committee on General Purpose on the legal framework and implementation of policies in the EAC Partner States as well as another report on Policy Dialogue and Gender to be presented by the Committee on Agriculture, Tourism and Natural Resources.
In addition, the Assembly shall debate the Report of the Committee on Communication, Trade and Investments on Investment Strategies in the EAC region.
This is the first meeting of EALA in the new Financial Year which commenced in July 2015. Two weeks ago, EALA held its Annual Planning Meeting in Kampala, Uganda during which it reviewed its plans and activities for the new Financial Year.
EALA holds rotational sittings in the Partner States in line with Article 55 of the Treaty for the Establishment of the EAC. At its last sitting in Arusha in May-June this year, the Assembly debated and approved the EAC Budget for the Financial Year 2015/2016.
At the sitting, legislators also debated on the State of EAC Address and commended H.E. Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, the Chair of the Summit of EAC Heads of State, for the insightful delivery of the State of EAC Address in Bujumbura, in March this year.
Posted in Press Release
EALA Speaker, Rt Hon. Daniel F. Kidega is rooting for enhanced and dynamic modes of communication to strengthen the regional integration process.
Consequently, the Assembly is expected to scale-up the flow of communication using a multi-faceted approach over the next three years as it enhances its mandate. Rt Hon. Kidega was speaking when he met representatives of the Westminster Foundation for Democracy (WFD) who paid him a courtesy call at the Speaker’s Chamber last week.
The delegation consisted of the Regional Director of Programmes, Africa and Europe, Mr George Kunnath. Senior Programme Manager, Africa, Ms Majda Elbeid and Regional Finance Manager, East Africa, Ms Beverly Kaluli. The trio were in Arusha to review the relationship with EALA and to map the way forward on the working arrangements for the next phase (Phase 2).
Under the arrangement, WFD will assist to build the capacity of Communications component at the Assembly by revolutionising the online and social media platform to enhance interactivity between the Assembly and its constituents.
The move is expected to enhance outreach to many citizens and create a mode of interaction between the regional legislators and their citizens.
Mr Kunnath, WFD Regional Director, Africa and Europe Program said “there is need for the civil society groups to link in with EALA and further disseminate the much needed information to their cadre”. “We hope we shall realise this prospect”, he added.
The WFD Regional Director said innovative approaches to communications were necessary to spread the message of integration to all citizens of the region.
The WFD and EALA worked together under a three year Programme (April 2012 - March 2015) which realised a number of successes.
The overall programme focus was to strengthen staff and member capacity and to support Civil Society Organisation engagements. They further addressed some of the key challenges including; inadequate mechanisms for effective engagement of the civil society sector and other stakeholders, limited staff capacity to effectively execute EALA’s work at Committee and Assembly levels. Successes included; the development, production and adoption of a new EALA Strategic Plan for 2013-2018, design and development of a monitoring framework for the EALA Strategic Plan and training of departmental heads on its application.
Also achieved under the Programme was increased knowledge and hence, professionalism among staff on Parliamentary processes.