EALA has concluded oversight activities of programmes and projects of the Community with an appeal to stakeholders to re-double their efforts on citizen sensitization on the benefits of integration. The three-day programme saw EALA visit two institutions of the EAC - East African Development Bank (EADB), the Lake Victoria Fisheries Organisation and the Civil Aviation Safety and Security Oversight Agency (CASSOA) in Kampala, Jinja and Entebbe respectively, and the East African Civil Aviation Academy (Soroti Flying School) in Soroti District.
At CASSOA, the Managing Director of the Uganda Civil Aviation Authority, Dr. Rama Makuza remarked that it was necessary for the aviation sector to harmonise the laws that regulate it. Dr Makuza who is a Board Member of CASSOA decried lack of adequate legislation governing aviation and said threats to the industry including that of terrorism were hampering progress.
“I appeal to EALA and the Council of Ministers to revisit the CASSOA Act and see to it that it is assented” he said.
The Executive Director of CASSOA, Barry Kashambo cited inadequate funding and shortage of staff as challenges to the organization. “We are looking at alternative financing mechanism to bridge the gap”, he said. According to Mr. Kashambo, the annual budget of the institution is about USD 2.2 Million.
The Executive Director remarked that CASSOA rooted for the full liberalization of air space to spur development in the region. “Aviation is a strategic sector in the integration arrangement and we look forward to safety, ease and adequacy of flights as well as reduction in costs of flight”, he noted.
At the Soroti Flying School, the Speaker of EALA, Rt. Hon Margaret Nantongo Zziwa applauded the Management for resuscitating the institution which was on the verge of collapse a few years ago. She hailed as timely, the imminent transfer of the EACAA to the EAC as one of the Institutions. Present at the occasion was the Minister for EAC, Republic of Uganda, Hon Shem Bageine.
The Chair of the Management Advisory Task Force, Mr. Zephania Baliddawa and the Acting Director, Ronald Lodiong remarked that the Government of Uganda and the EAC had put in place key intervention measures for recovery. Mr. Lodiong cited the modernization of infrastructure, enhancing of the training curricula and the commissioning of a study by the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) as key measures towards the sustainability and revitalization of the Academy.
The institution which has a capacity of training 108 students offers wide scope training for commercial and private piloting, flight instructors and airport maintenance engineering among others. The academy was established in September 1971 under the directorate of the civil aviation of the (then) East African Community. The bulk of its graduates are employed by regional airlines, air charter companies and state operators.
While at the EADB, the Executive Director, Viviene Yeda remarked that her institution would continue to provide development finance and support advisory services in a bid to promote sustainable economic development. She noted that EADB had prioritized resource mobilization, food security and infrastructure development as some of the areas of concentration in the next few years. Currently, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda have Membership at the EADB while Burundi is in the process of joining.
Companies that source for funding from the Bank must show evidence of financially viable projects that foster regional integration and impact positively in the economic, environmental and social spectrum.
The legislators later visited the Quality Chemicals Ltd in Kampala and the Kormic fish factory in Jinja.
AT Quality Chemicals Ltd, a leading manufacturer of anti-malarial and antiretroviral drugs, the Executive Chairman, Emmanuel Katongole informed the legislators that it was time for the continent to take its rightful place in socio-economic development issues.
He noted that Africa continued to bear the brunt of poverty yet it could take and map its own destiny.
“Hon Members, Sub-Sahara Africa is home to 80% of Malaria and 63% of HIV and Aids cases yet less than 1% of the remedies are manufactured in Africa. We must change the trend. We must not produce the diseases and others – the medicine,” Mr. Katongole said.
The Quality chemicals boss urged the Partner States to consider purchasing the remedies from his plant and noted that the facility was WHO pre-qualified and approved.
EALA’s mandate includes legislation, oversight and representation as stipulated by Article 49 of the Treaty for the Establishment of the EAC.
-Ends-
For more information, contact:
Bobi Odiko,
Senior Public Relations Officer,
East African Legislative Assembly,
Tel: Cell: +255-787-870945, +254-733-718036.
Email: Bodiko@eachq.org
