The East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) is calling for enhanced collaboration and co-operation between regional parliaments in Africa.

EALA Speaker,  Abdirahin H. Abdi, stressed the essence of closer ties when he received the Southern African Development Community Parliamentary Forum (SADC-PF) Secretary General, Dr. Esau Chiviya, over the weekend in Arusha-Tanzania.

"There is a need to strengthen the Pan-African Parliament, "he said in a written statement.

The SADC-PF Secretary General was in the region on a three day study tour of EALA to learn about the mandate and operations of the EAC parliament and to explore possible areas of best practices that SADC-PF can borrow.
Abdi stated that EALA had made significant contributions towards the attaining the objectives of the EAC in the ten years of its existence.

He said EALA’s fundamental role revolved around legislation, providing oversight and a representative function to the EAC. At the moment, besides the European Union (EU) Parliament, EALA is the only other regional parliament that has legislative powers.

Chiviya, commended EALA for its vast contributions to regional integration and pledged that SADC-PF was both willing to closely work with and learn from EALA.

SADC-PF is in the process of transforming from a consultative body into a fully-fledged regional Parliament.

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