By William Madouk
Speaker of the National Assembly of Tanzania, Tulia Ackson, has taken over the helm as the new Chairperson of the East African Community (EAC) Speakers Bureau.
Ackson’s nomination was announced by the outgoing chairperson, Jemma Nunu Kumba, during the 16th meeting of the EAC speakers’ bureau forum in Juba on Thursday.
In her address yesterday, Kumba, the outgoing chair, said the rules and procedures of the bureau are to hand over the leadership at the end of every year.
“At the 15th meeting held on May 19 in Arusha, Tanzania, the bureau decided that the United Republic of Tanzania would ascend the chairpersonship of the bureau after the Republic of South Sudan,” Nunu said.
“So at this juncture, South Sudan will hand over the chair to Tanzania, as said in the last meeting,” she added.
This means that Tanzania will now assume the responsibility of leading the Bureau for the next year.
Apart from this transfer of roles, the meeting is also set to address several other crucial matters related to the development of the East African Community (EAC).
The 16th meeting of the Bureau of Speakers of National Legislatures and the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) held in Juba was attended by Rt. Hon. Moses Wetangula, Speaker of the Kenya National Assembly, and Senator Veronica Maina, representing the Speaker of the Senate of Kenya.
Rt. Hon. Gelase Ndabirabe, Speaker of the Burundi National Assembly, Rt. Hon. Thomas Tayebwa, who was representing the Speaker of the Parliament of Uganda, Rt. Hon. Donatille Mukabalisa. Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies of Rwanda.
Also, Rt. Hon. Nkurunziza Fabrice, the Second Deputy Speaker of the Burundi Senate; Mr. Tarimba Abbas, a Member of Parliament from Tanzania who represented the Speaker; and Rt. Hon. Joseph Ntakirutimana, the Speaker of EALA, including clerks of the assemblies.
This is the second time in a span of a year that South Sudan has hosted an East African event after hosting the East Africa Parliamentary Games for the EAC Member States lawmakers last year.
The inter-parliamentary games involved national assembly legislators from South Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Burundi.