The regional assembly Eala resumes business this week sitting in Kigali with legislators expected to debate EAC Cooperatives Bill, 2014, that comes up for the second and third reading. The plenary sessions that commence on Monday, constitute the Second Meeting of the Third Session of the Third Assembly and will be presided over by the Speaker, Margaret Nantongo Zziwa. Apart from Co-operatives Bill, the plenary sessions will also receive and consider reports from various House committees. In March, Rwandan lawmakers suggested that the Bill, that seeks to provide a legal framework for regional cooperative societies, could borrow from Rwandan law. We noted that in all these EAC countries, we [Rwanda] are the only ones with a detailed law governing cooperatives that others could use. In other countries, there are diverse laws depending on type of cooperative activity, but ours efficiently captures everything, said Senator Jeanne dArc Mukakalisa, Vice-President of the Senate standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Cooperation and Security. Rwandan MPs see the Rwanda Cooperative Agency (RCA), established over five years ago, as an ideal model for a regional framework. However, back then, RCA boss Damien Mugabo, said the law establishing the RCA was set according to the countrys political orientation and maybe, our view is not necessarily the same as that of Kenya, or any other country. Our law fits into our national policy. For the whole community, it will necessitate considering issues holistically to mind about what is good for everybody. That said however, our law is very modern, Mugabo said. The Bills second and third reading, in Kigali, is likely to give it the final shape. Eala will also hold its eighth Inter-Parliamentary Relations Seminar that brings together members of Eala and parliamentarians from national assemblies of partner states. It will be under the theme: Insecurity and Terrorism as threats to EAC integration: How can EAC develop a common position?It is schedule for October 31 to November 2.
