The East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) has raised concerns about the East African Community (EAC) Council of Ministers' substandard and delayed reporting, which is hindering accountability and monitoring and evaluation of the region's integration progress.
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During its plenary sitting in Bujumbura last week, EALA debated and adopted the report of the Committee on General Purpose, which assessed the EAC Annual Report for fiscal year 2019/2020.
According to the Chairperson of the Committee on General Purpose, Mukulia Kennedy Ayason, the EAC Annual Report for 2019/2020 was wanting in terms of analysis. "The report is just a narration of events. It does not bring out the impact of the outlined achievements on the overall objectives of the EAC integration," he said. He also noted that there was no correlation between the 2019/2020 Annual Report and the approved EAC Budget for the same period.
The lawmakers exposed non-adherence to the timelines for presentation of the annual report to the Assembly as provided for by the Treaty for the establishment of EAC. "It is important to note that the failure of the Council of Ministers to table before the Assembly the EAC Annual Reports in time undermines the oversight mandate of the Assembly," Mukulia said.
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MP Fatuma Ndangiza emphasized that reporting to the Assembly is a Treaty obligation, and delaying the reports to the Assembly violates the provisions of the treaty in question and impedes the legislature's oversight work to track regional integration progress for the benefit of the citizens.
The Assembly resolved that the EAC Council of Ministers expeditiously tables the pending EAC Annual Reports for the period 2020/2021 and 2021/2022, not later than June 2023, and that the Council should provide the necessary funds to enable the Committee to consider these reports. The Chairperson of EAC Council of Ministers, Ezéchiel Nibigira, acknowledged that the report in question was overtaken by events and committed to making improvements in reporting to the Assembly going forward.
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