EALA Speaker visits Kigali, meets President of Senate

Posted in Press Release

EALA Speaker, Rt Hon Daniel F. Kidega yesterday met with the President of the Senate of Rwanda, H.E. Bernard Makuza at his Chambers in Kigali, Rwanda.

The two leaders underscored the need for peace and security in the region terming it a necessity for the EAC to realise its objectives. Speaker of EALA, Rt Hon Daniel F. Kidega urged the Summit of the EAC Heads of State to move with speed, firmly resolve and put to end the insecurities in Burundi as well as in the Republic of South Sudan, recently admitted into the bloc.

He said the regional Assembly was supportive of the on-going dialogue framework under former President, H.E. Benjamin Mkapa but added that it was vital for all parties to be fully involved and engaged in the process.

The Speaker added that EALA would before end of its tenure in June 2017 undertake a regional study on genocide ideology and hate speech. The Assembly according to Rt Hon Kidega is to establish a Select Committee to carry out the study, commissioned following a series of resolutions by the Assembly condemning genocide, its ideology and denial.

The Resolution on the study, moved by Hon AbuBakr Ogle, urged the EALA Commission, to establish a seven-member team which will, among others, look at the security ramifications of genocide ideology and attempts to deny or minimise its scale and severity.

Rt Hon Kidega further remarked that EALA would scale up on its sensitization and outreach program in the region saying citizens stood to benefit immensely.

“EALA held holding successful outreach engagements with stakeholders in April and June 2016, in Rwanda and in all the Partner States and this is an area we shall enhance in the future” he said.

The EALA Speaker also seized the opportunity to brief his counterpart, Rt Hon Bernard Makuza on the Assembly’s progress.

On his part, Rt Hon Bernard Makuza hailed EALA for taking its rightful place in strengthening the integration process. He maintained that decorum was key in all democratic Parliamentary institutions as a way of accommodating diverse views and opinions.

The President of Senate urged EALA to take sensitisation of citizens a notch higher saying many citizens were yet to fully appreciate the accrued benefits of integration.

Rt Hon Makuza added his voice to finding sustainable mechanisms for Regional Economic Communities (RECs) to address the often funding constraints.

Responding to the media on claims that Burundi had barred trading of commodities along its borders with Rwanda, Rt Hon Kidega said the Assembly would investigate on the issue in order to ascertain the facts.

“The Communications Trade and Investment Committee shall ascertain the facts, however, it is important to add that the region is implementing the Customs Union and the Common Market and it would be counterproductive for Partner States to deprive citizens of the associated benefits”, Rt Hon Kidega remarked.

EAC Secretariat kick-starts assessment of supply capacities for textiles, apparels and leather products in the region

Posted in Press Release

The East African Community Secretariat has kick-started assessment of supply capacities for textiles, apparels and leather products in the region to facilitate planning for the phasing-out of the second hand leather and apparels products in line with the Directive of the 17th EAC Heads of State Summit, with the visit by the EAC Deputy Secretary General in charge of Productive and Social Sectors, Hon. Jesca Eriyo to A to Z Textile Mills Limited located in Arusha, Tanzania, on Friday 5th August 2016.

The Deputy Secretary General was accompanied by key officials under her docket namely; the Director of Productive Sectors, Mr. Jean Baptiste Havugimana; the Principal Industrial Economist, Mr. George Ndira; the Principal Agricultural Economist, Mr. Moses Marwa; the Senior Export Promotion Officer, Ms. Emmanuella Hakizimana; EAC-UNIDO Programme Coordinator, Mr. Johansein Rutaihwa; the EAC Consultant undertaking the study on Textiles and Leather Value Chains, Dr. Onesmo Shuma.

The EAC delegation met and held talks with the CEO of A to Z Textile Mills Limited, Mr. Anuj Shah, who was accompanied by Dr. Johnson Ouma Odera, the Director for Africa Technical Research Centre and other Directors and senior staff.

The EAC and A to Z Textile Mills Teams discussed extensively and toured the company facilities to assess capacity, quality and variety of products available that could be locally produced as per the Summit directive. Hon. Jesca Eriyo noted that as EAC plans to phase-out second-hand clothes/shoes (SHCs), it was crucial to engage the industry players to seek their opinion on the most effective strategies to do it while ensuring steady availability of apparels and leather products to meet the demand for the region. "It is equally important to gauge the level of preparedness by the industry to respond to the expected ban and what the industry may need in terms of support measures/incentives to expand investment in order to meet the demand for these products", affirmed the EAC official.

The Secretariat plans to undertake a similar visit to a Leather Tannery in Moshi, as well as to the other EAC Partner States.