The East African Legislative Assembly (EALA), the legislative arm of the East African Community (EAC) holds a Plenary session on Monday, which will deliberate on, among other matters, the supplementary budget for the regional bloc, and the status of its legislation implementation. This is according to the agenda of the day that was shared by the Assembly. It includes the first reading of the EAC Supplementary Appropriation Bill, 2022. Last week, EALA Speaker Martin Ngoga said that this bill intends to appropriate a sum of over $2.6 million to meet additional expenditure for the Organs of the Community for the financial year ending June 30, 2023. This bill, he said, was brought to the Assembly by the [EAC] Council of Ministers. Ngoga was, along with EALA MPs, hosting the press conference opening its first Meeting of the 5th Session of the 4th [EALA] Assembly, which is taking place at the Parliament of Rwanda from October 23 to May 11, 2022. It is worth mentioning that EALA approved $91.5 million budget for the Community, which the MPs said was small compared to the region’s financial requirements to meet its integration needs. Among reports to be discussed today, there is the Report of the Assembly’s Committee on Legal, Rules and Privileges, on assessment of the status of ratifications and implementation of EAC Protocols and EAC Laws. Also on the programme is the Report of the Committee on Regional Affairs and Conflict Resolutions on the progress made by EAC on its Common Foreign and Security Policies. Others are the Report of the Committee on General Purpose on the oversight activity to assess the progress made by the Inter-University Council of East Africa – IUCEA – in the Harmonisation of Education Systems in the EAC. The Report of the Committee on Regional Affairs and Conflict Resolution to assess the measures instituted by the Partner States for the Safety and Security of Movement of people and goods on Lake Victoria and Lake Tanganyika; and the Report of the Accounts Committee on the Audited EAC Financial Statements for the financial year ended June 30, 2020, are also expected to be considered.
