Members of the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) have underscored the need for strict adherence to principles of self reliance to get out of aid dependence.

The regional legislators, meeting in Kampala, Uganda were on Tuesday debating the State of the EAC address made by the Chairperson of the EAC Summit, President Yoweri Museveni, in Kigali last month.

In his State of the EAC speech in April, Museveni pointed out that lack of strong political organisation in Africa, corruption, and poor infrastructure have kept Africans divided, poor, and vulnerable to colonisation and other foreign attacks.

Sarah Bonayo, an EALA member from Kenya said the region cannot wean off aid when the integration process is seventy percent running on foreign aid.

"Foreigners still utilise our vast resources and give back to us as foreign aid. We need to safe guard our dignity and integrity,” Bonayo said.

Notable among huge EAC projects that development partners have invested in, is the multi-million Euro EAC headquarters building that was constructed on a 14 million Euro grant from Germany.

Okumu Opoka from Uganda warned that the region will only achieve its ultimate objective of a political federation only if partner states learn to respect democracy and the rule of law.

"We should have home grown initiatives and we shift from thinking that someone else has solutions to our problems,” said EALA member Nancy Abisai.

Reacting to Museveni’s speech, Suzan Nakawuki, an EALA member from Uganda decried the fact that EAC partner states have good policies and programmes that only remain on paper and never benefit citizens.

"For instance, if the regional industrialisation policy is fully implemented, this would lead to more jobs for our young generation,” she said.

During its session in Kampala, EALA will debate on the EAC Vehicle Load Control Bill 2012 and debate and adopt various committee reports on oversight of EAC activities, motions and resolutions.