The East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) will hold its 4th meeting of its 3rd session virtually for the first time in history. The Assembly’s sitting will be held in the EAC Partner States to discuss a number of reports in a session to be presided over by the Speaker, Rt Hon Ngoga Karoli Martin.
The Committee on Regional Affairs and Conflict Resolution is set to consider the report on the EAC Integrity and Anti-Corruption Bill, before it is presented virtually in a plenary anticipated for Thursday, May 7th, 2020.
Other key reports to be tabled during the period are that of the Committee on Accounts on Capacity Building Workshop and the Report of the Committee on Agriculture, Tourism and Natural Resources on the on-Spot Assessment of the activities of the Lake Victoria Basin Commission (LVBC).
The Report of the Committee on Agriculture, Tourism and Natural Resources on the oversight activity on Climate Change, that of the Committee on Communication, Trade and Investment on One Net Work Area (ONA) and the Report on Accounts Committee on oversight of EAC Institutions in Uganda are also will also be discussed. A number of questions and motions as is customary in parliamentary business are also expected.
This week, the six committees of the House will convene virtually in the respective EAC capitals to consider their various reports, prior to presenting, tabling and subsequent debates at plenary.
“This morning, the EALA Commission held its statutory meeting to consider and approve the activities of the Assembly for the month of May 2020. In the afternoon, the Committee on Legal Rules and Privileges met to consider its report on the approximation and harmonization of national laws in the EAC context,” EAC said in a press release.
EALA has taken the approach in line with the measures in the Partner States and globe to commit to containing the COVID-19 pandemic, which by Monday this week stood at 953 cases in the EAC region and 3,015,298 globally.
At its meeting on April 20th, 2020, the virtual EALA Commission meeting chaired by the EALA Speaker, Rt Hon Ngoga Karoli Martin, noted with concern the alarming rate at which COVID-19 pandemic is spreading globally (and in the region) and on the attendant impact on humanity.
“The Commission thus resolved to continue with its planned activities through video conferencing in Arusha and the EAC Partner States. A number of Parliaments in the region and globe have also re-looked at the modus operandi of undertaking legislative, representative and oversight mandate following the advent of the pandemic,” the statement read.
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