The East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) on Tuesday, June 23, elected 12 Commissioners - two per partner state - to serve the fourth Assembly for the remaining two and a half years of its five-year tenure.

Rwandan MPs Oda Gasinzigwa and François-Xavier Kalinda who were members of the outgoing EALA Commission, were nominated by the Rwanda chapter to continue and serve for the next two and a half years.

The EALA Commission is the leading committee which manages the affairs of the Assembly, organises the business and programme of the House, and nominates members of other committees.

Gasinzigwa and Kalinda who previously served in the third Assembly, were re-elected, unopposed, just like Kenya's Oburu Oginga and Wanjiku Muhia in an election held during a virtual sitting.

Nominations for new members to the 13-member body called the EALA Commission were handed in last week by all Partner States.

The 12 elected Commissioners will serve in the Assembly's remaining tenure after the principal committee's first two and a half term of office ended on June 19.

Voting was by secret ballot.

The current fourth Assembly started in December 2017. 

Its five-year tenure runs from 2017 to 2022. However, it's rules are set such that Commissioners serve for two and half years.

The Commission comprises two members from each of the six partner states, in addition to Speaker Martin Ngoga. 

Normally, the Chairperson of the Council of Ministers is an ex-officio member. 

Rwanda's new State Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Prof Nshuti Manasseh, virtually took the oath of allegiance as an ex-officio member of the Assembly.

With the Commission in place, other matters on the Assembly's agenda will later be tabled and discussed, starting with establishing members of the House's other six standing committees.

Speaking to The New Times about their just concluded two and a half years, Gasinzigwa, stressed that they pushed the integration agenda as best as they could.

Gasinzigwa who leads the Rwanda chapter said that, looking back over the past two and a half years, "we appreciate the opportunity we were given to serve."

She said: "Rwanda led the Assembly well even though we started at a difficult point when our Speakership was challenged."

The East African Court of Justice (EAJC) recently dismissed a case filed over two years ago by the government of Burundi, challenging the process of electing the current Speaker, Martin Ngoga.