East African Legislative Assembly, Arusha, Tanzania: 23 August, 2016: The House is set to provide oversight over a number of issues at the EAC it terms crucial and of public interest. EALA Speaker, Rt Hon Daniel Fred Kidega has asserted that the Assembly would do its part and provide oversight on the critical matters raised on the floor of the House this afternoon by Member, Hon Bernard Mulengani.
As the Assembly resumed today, Hon Bernard Mulengani invoked Rule 13 (1) of the Rules of Procedure to adjourn debate on the Orders of the Day to bring to fore urgent areas deemed necessary for urgent address. Temporarily, the House put aside what was on the Order Paper including the First Reading of the EAC Counter-Trafficking in Persons Bill, 2016 and debate on the Report of the Committee on Agriculture, Tourism and Natural Resources on the Oversight activities on poaching to listen to the contributions of the Member.
Hon Mulengani remarked that a number of matters had come to fore as the Committee on Accounts held meetings in Arusha last week and that compel EALA to enhance its oversight role in public interest. The Member said there were critical issues affecting trade and free movement of persons between the Republics of Burundi and Rwanda in the recent past and that were of the essence requiring immediate attention.
He further cited administrative issues within the EAC Secretariat to include that of irregularities in procurement of the Community’s insurance cover, the irregular termination of members of staff under the African Peace and Security Architecture Project (APSA) of the Community and the delayed take-over of office by the substantive Deputy Secretary General of Finance and Administration.
In his contributions, Hon Peter Mathuki said the matters at hand were of great public interest and could not be ignored if the Community was to function properly. Hon Dr James Ndahiro and Hon Abdullah Mwinyi urged the House to give ample time so that information on the pertinent matters could be collected before debate ensues.
In his ruling, Speaker, Rt Hon Daniel Fred Kidega, assigned the respective Committees within whose jurisidictions the issues at hand fall, to immediately delve into the matters and report back before the end of the current sitting or at the very latest in the subsequent session.
Rt Hon Kidega ruled that the Assembly could not speculate on the weighty matters at hand, but sought to allay fears of ineptitude leadership.
“We are in charge and the Assembly and other Organs must do their part. I therefore direct that the Question of rights and privileges be handled by the Committee on Legal Rules and Privileges, while that on Peace and Security related to the APSA Project be taken up by the Committee on Regional Affairs and Conflict Resolution”, Rt Hon Kidega said.
“The matter concerning trade and movement of citizens between the two Partner States, The Republics of Burundi and Rwanda shall be handled by the Committee on Communications, Trade and Investments”, he added.
He said the EALA Commission had at its meeting over the weekend resolved to send a delegation of Members to carry out an on-spot assessment along the borders of Republics of Burundi and Rwanda to ascertain the facts.
“I urge the Council of Ministers also to up its political supervision to address the administrative matters raised by the Member” he said.
According to Rule 13 (1) of the Rules of Procedure, a Member may at any time, for reasons stated, seek leave to move that the House do adjourn immediately to debate a matter of urgent public importance.
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For more Information, contact:
Bobi Odiko, Senior Public Relations Officer,
East African Legislative Assembly,
Tel: +255-27-2508240, Cell: +255 787 870945+254-733-718036;
Email: bodiko@eachq.org,
Arusha, Tanzania,
www.eala.org
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