EALA concludes sitting in Nairobi
The curtains closed on the 2nd Meeting of the 4th Session late last week, with the Assembly adjourning debate on a Bill and a motion respectively.
EALA adjourned debate on the Forest Management and Protection Bill, 2015. The adjournment at Committee stage followed the successful Motion for the same tabled by the Chair of EAC Council of Ministers, Hon. Dr Harrison Mwakyembe, seeking for more time to enable the United Republic of Tanzania to make input.
Hon. Dr Mwakyembe informed the House that the United Republic of Tanzania would go to the polls in the next few days and said it was necessary that the debate be put on hold until such time the incoming Government is in place to effectively enable the Partner State to make input.
Though majority of Members rose up to support the Motion for adjournment, they however noted that the practice should not be encouraged. “We committed to the EAC as Partner States and not based on tenure of sitting Governments, it is important that the records of the House state so”, Hon. Martin Ngoga said.
Hon. Judy Pareno told the Assembly to check the emerging trend of the Council of Ministers taking over Bills and then stalling them over periods of time, citing the EAC Disaster Risk Reduction and Management and the EAC Cross-Border Legal Practice Bill as examples.
“The Executive should not be seen to be torpedoing the function of the Assembly”, she noted.
Hon. Dora Byamukama also lamented that the Assembly should not stall when there are elections in Partner States saying it would set a bad precedence. Hon. Adam Kimbisa and Hon. Mukasa Mbidde also voiced support for the Bill, whose mover is Hon. Christophe Bazivamo.
The Speaker, Rt Hon. Daniel F. Kidega ruled that the debate on the key Bill be brought back on the Order Paper when the Assembly resumes in Kigali, Rwanda in November.
The EAC Forestry and Management Protection Bill, 2015 hopes to promote the development, protection, conservation, sustainable management and use of the forests in the Community, especially trans-boundary forests ecosystems, in the interest of present and future generations.
It further wants to espouse the scientific, cultural and socio-economic values of forests and harmonise national forest laws. Also put on hold was debate on Motion for a Resolution to ratify and deposit the required instruments of the amended Protocol to the Constitutive Act of the African Union. The import of the Resolution whose mover is Hon. Mike Sebalu is to enable Pan-African Parliament to achieve the important pillar of legislation.
Hon. Dr Odette Nyiramilimo moved the motion to adjourn debate to enable Members acquaint themselves with the said Protocol. Earlier on, the Chair of the EAC Council of Ministers responded to a number of questions posed by Hon. Dora Byamukama and Hon. Shyrose Bhanji.
On Tuesday, the Assembly passed a Report of the Goodwill mission by the Regional Affairs and Conflict Resolution Committee to visit Burundi Refugees in Kigoma, Tanzania and in the Eastern Province of Rwanda. The Members stressed the need to tackle the root causes of the refugee situation in the region rather than addressing the symptoms.
The Regional Affairs and Conflict Resolution Committee led by the Chairperson, Hon. Abdullah Mwinyi was dispatched to Kigoma and Eastern Province of Rwanda in late May and early June 2015 to appraise itself with the humanitarian situation on the ground and to assess the amenities available.
During debate, Hon. Twaha Issa Taslima noted that the situation in the refugee camps visited were disturbing. He noted that the Nyarugusu camp in Tanzania was already congested with other refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) also taking refuge there.
Hon. Chris Opoka-Okumu urged the host countries to put in place mechanisms under which refugees who have stayed long can be absorbed into such states through naturalisation.
Hon. Mukasa Mbidde informed the House that refugees interviewed at the camps maintained they fled - fearing threats due to what they described as organised violence and arbitrary arrests by militia and other armed groups.
Hon. Christophe Bazivamo told the House that experience in the region has shown that refugee crisis are closely associated with the elections due to violence before, during and after the polls.
He pleaded for the EAC States to adhere to the principles of good governance, democracy, human rights and rule of law to minimise the crisis. Hon. Shyrose Bhanji called on all players in the Burundi politics to preach peace and avoid further violence, adding that the EALA mission had established that peace dialogue was the best way to end the political crisis there.
Presenting the report, the Chair of Goodwill Mission, Hon. Mwinyi said over 100,000 Burundians have fled their country since April this year to Tanzania, Rwanda, DRC and Uganda following violence precipitated by disagreement over the interpretation of the Arusha Accord and the Burundi Constitution on the issue of presidential term.
The next Sitting takes place in Kigali, Rwanda in November 2015.