The East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) yesterday adopted a motion for special recognition of the International Day of Democracy.

In 2007, the United Nations General Assembly declared September 15 as International Day of Democracy, and parliaments around the world have since been celebrating the day.

According to a statement sent to The New Times, the motion was moved by Dora Byamukama, an EALA member from Uganda, during the assembly’s first meeting of the fourth session currently sitting in Bujumbura, Burundi.

"The adoption of the motion means the International Democracy Day now gets included in the yearly legislative calendar of the Assembly,” the release reads in part.
Tanzania’s Minister of EAC Affairs, Dr. Diodorus Kamala, who is also the Chairperson of the EAC Council of Ministers, affirmed that he would dispatch official statements to the five partner states to mark the day.

The International Day of Democracy is meant both to celebrate democracy and to serve as a reminder that the need to promote and protect democracy is as urgent now as ever.

In his remarks while marking this day, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon underscored the role of democracy, adding that it is an "indispensable” tool to better the lives of people around the world.

This year’s day falls just days before the start of a three-day gathering at United Nations Headquarters in New York, where world leaders will measure progress with just five years to go before the 2015 deadline for the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the eight globally-agreed targets against poverty, hunger, disease and other social and economic ills.

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