The East African Legislative Assembly members, January 22, 2018. [Photo|Simon Mbugua]The East African Legislative Assembly sitting went on in Kampala on Monday with an induction process for its new members.Speaker of the Parliament of Uganda, Rebecca Kadaga opened the week-long induction exercise, and reiterated the importance of sensitizing citizens and further hailed the principle of rotation which the regional Assembly embraces.“One of the causes of the collapse of the previous EAC (1967-77), was the low level of involvement of stakeholders in their activities. As legislators, through our collective action, we must direct our efforts towards a unified and empowered East African Community.""Autonomy for EALA is vital and Parliament of Uganda is so keen to see it fully operationalized," she said, and urged EALA members to look beyond their national shoulders and to fully focus on its regional agenda.EALA Speaker Ngoga Martin indicated the induction programme presented an opportunity for the members to build capacities on regional integration matters as they commence on the journey of the 4th Assembly. The induction process was addressed by the Director at the Centre for Regional Integration, Dr Wanyama Masinde who delivered a paper on Understanding regional integration while the Counsel to the Community made on the Salient features of the Treaty annexes.Meanwhile, President of Uganda who is the chairman of the Summit of EAC Heads of State, Yoweri Museveni, was scheduled to deliver the State of EAC address on Tuesday Uganda Parliament Chambers.

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