EALA MEMBERS AGAINST CUTTING DOWN MEMBERS

 

Members of the East African Legislative Assembly (Eala) are up in arms over a proposal to cut down their numbers.

They said a suggestion to slash the number of elected legislators from each country to five from nine was a non-starter.

"Why should they reduce Eala members?. Some people may be taking the Assembly for granted",lamented Happiness Lugiko, an MP from Tanzania.

She criticized those behind the move, saying they had not even communicated with the sitting MPs to get their views.

"Eala has a critical, oversight role to play in regional integration. Its activities should not be played down", she added.

Ms Lugiko said instead of cutting down the number of the MPs, there had even been suggestions to increase given the job demand.

The regional ministers proposed reduction of Eala MPs as part of the cost cutting measures to address the budget crunch at the Community. 

If implemented, the move would slash the  number of the lawmakers from all six East African Community (EAC) partner states to 30 from the current 54.

Dr.Abdullah Makame, another lawmaker from Tanzania, rubbished the idea, calling it a shame and immature.

"We are integrating so why curtail the operations of the Assembly by reducing the MPs", he asked during a debate in the House last week.

Dr.Thomas Dut Gatkek from South Sudan said the proposal was unwise and that the motive behind it was not clear.

"Here is where the survival of the Assembly is at stake. The issue of cost cutting is not convincing at all", he pointed out.

A report by the 12th meeting of the EAC Sectoral Council of Ministers of Finance and Economic/Trade Affairs last week defended the move on cost cutting grounds.

It said Eala has the highest number of sittings, among all benchmarked peer regional parliamentary assemblies, making it the most expensive to run.

The Assembly spends the largest share of the partner states' contributions at 35.35 percent followed closely by the secretariat (35.16 percent) and the EA Court of Justice (7 percent).

The report recommended that the number of Eala sittings be reduced to four from six per financial year so as to reduce the operating costs. 

Most of the MPs who took the floor to debate the matter during the House sitting this week, slammed the report on the proposal.

"The proposal is misplaced because the composition of the Assembly is a Treaty matter", affirmed Rose Akoll, a member from Uganda.

She said that Eala, the legislative arm of the Community, has been a model for other regional economic blocs in Africa.

The outspoken Kenyan MP Aden Abdikadir said the proposal was ill advised because reduction of members would undermine its oversight role. 

However, Fatuma Ibrahim (also from Kenya) cautioned that the ideal to reduce Eala members was not a rumour but could be "a reality to come".

She said although the number of MPs from each country (nine) is articulated in the EAC Treaty, the suggestion was made due to the cash challenges facing the EAC.

Besides the fragile financial situation at the EAC, efforts are also underway to model Eala around parliaments with other economic blocs in Africa. 

Ms Ibrahim said while Eala members are paid full salaries and allowances, MPs in other regional blocs are seconded to regional parliaments from the National Assemblies of their respective states.

A proposal to cut down the number of Eala MPs was first mooted in the middle of this year during a meeting of the Finance Ministers from the partner states.

Senior officials of both the EAC secretariat and Eala reached yesterday said they were aware of the move but insisted final decision was the prerogative of the higher authorities.

Eala has a total of 54 elected members - nine from each of the partner states; Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, Burundi, Rwanda and South Sudan. 

The ex-officio members are ministers responsible for EAC Affairs from the partner states, the Secretary General of the Community and the Counsel to the Community.