The East Africa Parliamentary Assembly (EALA) has elected Joseph Ntakarutimana from Burundi as the new Speaker of the House, replacing Rwanda’s Martin Ngoga who led the outgoing 4th Assembly.
Ntakarutimana was elected uncontested after his contenders from South Sudan (Hon. Dr. Leonardo Anne Itto and Hon. Gai Deng) pulled out of the race.
The Speaker, who is also the country’s ruling party deputy secretary general, took oath after the EALA’s new members from Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan and recently Democratic Republic of Congo.
EALA will now have 63 lawmakers from the initial 54 after DRC joined the community, the regional lawmakers serve for a term of five years renewable once.
The assembly is governed by Article 9 of the Treaty establishing East African Community. The agreement was first signed on November 30, 1999, and came into force on July 7, 2000.
According to the provisions of the agreement, each country is represented by nine elected Deputies from each member state.
EALA’s goals include passing laws that regulate the community, monitoring government activities, and advocating on various issues that threaten the people of this community.
The House also debates and makes recommendations on the organization’s budget needs and how it should be used, and monitors various reports on the organization’s activities and provides oversight for the EAC.
