Ladies & Gentlemen of the Press; Good Morning; I welcome you all to this press briefing convened to notify you of the 6th Meeting of the 1st Session of the 3rd East African Legislative Assembly, scheduled to take place at the Parliament of Uganda, from 26th May 2013 to 6th June, 2013.
On behalf of the Assembly and on my own behalf, allow me to salute His Excellency, President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni for accepting once again to address EALA on June 5, 2013. EALA appreciates the wise and able leadership of President Museveni in steering the Republic of Uganda to greater heights and for the significant contribution H.E. Museveni is making at the EAC both as a Member and as the current Chair of the Summit of EAC Heads of State.
We thank our host, the Speaker of the Parliament of Uganda, Rt. Hon Rebecca Kadaga, for granting us access to the Parliament of Uganda for our session. We continue to hail the warm and cordial relations between the Parliament of Uganda and EALA.
Over the two-weeks, the notable business for consideration shall include:
- the Special Sitting and Address by H.E. Yoweri Museveni on June 5, 2013;
- receive and consider the Budget Speech that shall be delivered by the Chair of the Council of Ministers, Hon Shem Bageine on May 30, 2013;
- debate on the following Bills: the EAC Vehicle Load Control Bill 2012 and the EAC Appropriation Bill;
- ebate and adoption of various committee reports on oversight of EAC activities, motions and resolutions.
In addition to the Plenary, EALA shall also meet with various stakeholders. The Assembly shall hold talks with the Food Rights Alliance on Land Investments and Genetic Modified Organisms (GMOs), TradeMark East Africa (TMEA) and familiarization tours of the East African Development Bank (EADB), Inter-University Council of East Africa (IUCEA) and the Civil Aviation and Safety Security Authority (CASSOA). The meetings shall offer EALA Members an opportunity for further interaction with stakeholders and with the citizens of Uganda. Such a move definitely plays a fundamental role in opening ‘our eyes and ears’ to development placing us at a vantage position when it comes to legislation and further strengthening our collaboration with citizens of this great Republic.
Immediately after the Sitting, EALA shall convene the 7th Inter-Parliamentary Relations Seminar, commonly referred to as the Nanyuki Series on June 7-9, 2013. The theme of this year’s Seminar is Promoting a People-Centred and Market-Driven East Africa and we expect to have a total of 200 Members from the region in attendance. The Seminar shall further provide an opportunity for participants to dwell in detail on one of the Community’s operational principles of a people-centred and market-driven co-operation provided for under Article 7(1) (a) of the Treaty.
Ladies and Gentlemen:
I wish to inform you that it is now a year since the 3rd EALA was inaugurated. During the period, EALA has realized a number of achievements that included:
1. Holding five Sittings in the Partner States in line with the rotational principle of EALA.
2. Successful Addresses by all the Heads of State at the subsequent openings of the EALA Sittings in the Partner States. This is in line with the tradition established by the Second Assembly.
3. Passing of 3 key Bills which are: the East African Community Supplementary Appropriation Bill,2013; The East African Community Customs Management (Amendment) Bill,2013;and The East African Community One Stop Border Post (OSBP), Bill, 2012.
4. Passing of 8 Resolutions key to the integration process.
5. Participation in a number of meetings and workshops.
EALA continues to play a key role in the integration process by providing the required legislative framework and oversight to ensure the integration agenda continues to be a priority. The involvement of East Africans in the process is fundamental given the fact that the Treaty recognizes their participation as “a people centred process”. As such, the Assembly has and will continue to engage the citizens of the region, by taking their views into account when enacting legislation.
We are well aware that the integration process is at an important period in the integration process as provided for in Article 5 (2). The Treaty spells out accelerated and harmonious development in meeting the four-tier phases of the Customs Union, the Common Market, the Monetary Union and ultimately, the Political Federation. Today, the Customs Union is on-going and at an advanced stage. The Common Market is also approaching the 3rd year of implementation. Despite the successes, a number of challenges are still to be fully addressed.
Looking at the Common Market Protocol for example, there are a number of benefits that the region needs to exploit. Such include the free movement of goods, free movement of persons and free movement of services among others. Today, the region is yet to fully achieve free movement of persons owing to delays in the introduction of the generation machine readable identity cards. We shall once again appeal and challenge the Chair of the Summit, H.E. Yoweri Museveni at this Sitting to urge his colleagues and the Partner States to speed up implementation of the important Protocol.
Another area that should be speeded up concerns the Common Social Security regime which would greatly benefit workers of the region. The region should tackle the challenges as it prepares to move into the Monetary Union phase which is envisaged to commence in November 2013.
The Assembly is committed to work closely with the Council of Ministers in areas of legislation that shall superintend the full implementation of the pillars.
I want to thank the EALA Members (Uganda Chapter) for the hard work and collective efforts in rendering service to the people of Rwanda and the citizens of the EAC region.
Finally, I welcome Members of the Forth Estate to fully participate in the coming EALA Meeting and to apprise the publics of what transpires.
I thank you all for listening.
END
May 27, 2013
