Museveni to address EALA today

Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni will today preside over a special sitting of the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA), the EALA Speaker Margaret Nantongo Zziwa has said.

Tuesday, January 21, 2014
President Museveni.

Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni will today preside over a special sitting of the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA), the EALA Speaker Margaret Nantongo Zziwa has said.The fourth meeting of the second session of the third assembly is taking place at the Parliament of Uganda. The session ends on January 31.Zziwa told a news conference yesterday that the President’s address will be followed by debate on three bills during the course of the week.The bills include; the EAC Disaster risk reduction and management Bill, 2012, the EAC Integration (Education) Bill, 2014 and the EAC Supplementary appropriation Bill, 2014.The EALA members are also scheduled to meet with various stakeholders on the sidelines of the sitting in line with the EALA Strategic Plan 2013- 2018. "Such meetings shall present us with an opportunity to exchange ideas, and strengthen the Community which has entered an important stage,” Zziwa said.Zziwa appealed to partner states to amend their laws to enable the full implementation of the Common Market Protocol.The success of this integration stage, she added, shall no doubt transform the EAC region."If we are to fully implement the Common Market Protocol, we will have realised over 75 per cent of the integration process. Although some of the steps taken so far are laudable, more needs to be done,” she said.On projects EAC will take on this year, the Speaker said the bloc will improve infrastructural programmes especially in the rail, harbors and water sub-sectors and the oil pipeline project.