Speakers from the EAC Parliaments (National Assemblies/Senates) and EALA will meet tomorrow in Arusha for the 11th Meeting of the EAC Bureau of Speakers.
According to a release, the delegates will deliberate on weighty issues relevant to the integration process.
‘The meeting is expected to revisit and make amends to the Rules of Procedure of the Bureau of EAC Speakers that guide the Forum. The meeting will also see the handover of the Chair of the Bureau of Speakers from the Parliament of Tanzania to the East African Legislative Assembly’ the release reads in part.
The one day meeting shall be preceded by a two-day meeting of Clerks on April 27th and 28th, 2016, which among other things shall review the mandate of the Bureau, discuss modalities of operationalization of the East African Parliamentary Institute (EAPI) and a number of topical issues on emerging challenges in legislature in the region. The report of the key meeting will feed into that of the Speakers’ Forum for consideration.
The Bureau of the EAC Speakers is the umbrella body that EALA and the National Assemblies utilise to champion the cause of Parliaments in the region, that of enacting legislation, oversight and representation and plays a key advisory role to the Summit of the EAC Heads of State.
The Bureau holds meetings annually under the guidance of a Chairperson who is elected under the principle of rotation. The inaugural meeting of the Bureau of Speakers was held in May 2008.
