Posted
Wednesday, August 28
2013 at
20:54
In Summary
Thus, whether the sittings were rotating or not, there was no money for the assembly to save.
The East African Community (EAC) is heading the
wrong direction. Squabbles pitting member states, its leaders and some
of its organs aren’t helping the bloc, currently at an advanced stage of
integration.
Tuesday’s incident when business at the East
African Legislative Assembly (Eala) came to a halt after MPs from Rwanda
led others to walk out of the august House to protest the Speaker’s
decision to bar them from discussing a motion on the rotation of
sittings among partner states could be a clear indication of growing
mistrust amongst members.
This is a cause for concern among East Africans.
Article 55 of the Treaty for the establishment of the EAC, says the
assembly shall meet at least once a year at Arusha. It further says the
meetings shall be held at such times and places as the Assembly may
appoint.
It should be noted that initially, Eala sat in
rented premises at the Arusha International Conference Centre. Thus,
whether the sittings were rotating or not, there was no money for the
assembly to save. Now that Eala has its own building, it is only the
reckless spenders who would go for rotational sittings.
If the issue is about personal savings among MPs,
it is probably those from Kenya who are at an advantage since it takes a
mere four hours to drive from Nairobi to Arusha.
Basically all Tanzanian MPs are based in Dar es
Salaam, which is an 8-hour drive to Arusha, where each has to pay for
their upkeep just like their Kenyan, Ugandan, Rwandan and Burundian
counterparts.
One also wonders if rotating were the only best
way to promote the integration. Besides, why should MPs walk out now
while the decision to hold sittings in Arusha was reached by the Eala
Commission in Kampala in June?
These politics in Eala are just advancing mistrusts among EAC member states and we shouldn’t allow that.
Source: The citizen
Source: The citizen
