Odhiambo Orlale
16 May 2008
Nairobi — Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi have been called upon to set up a common electoral commission.
Members of the East African Legislative Assembly said the commission would supervise elections to prevent a repeat of the fiasco witnessed in Kenya early this year.
Addressing the first sitting of the regional Assembly at the old chambers of parliament in Nairobi, Ms Lydia Mutende (Uganda) told her colleagues that the EAC failed by responding late to Kenya's worst political crisis that saw 1,200 people killed and 350,000 displaced.
Ms Mutende regretted that the EALA watched helplessly as ministers from the member states said they were applying "quiet diplomacy" to resolve the crisis.
"If people are killing each other you should not go under the bed and start writing project proposals," she said.
But Ms Mutende defended EALA and EAC, saying they were unable to act because they had no entry point to use to come to the assistance of Kenyans.
On the proposed East African Common Market, she blamed the delay in implementation on frustration from the region's ministers for East African Affairs.
Ms Mutende accused them of skipping Thursday's sitting, the first after Rwanda and Burundi's members were sworn-in, and instead travelling to China.
The legislator took issue with the address by the chairman of the Head of States Summit of the EAC, President Yoweri Museveni, on February 26, 2008, where he said there was progress in working towards a monetary union and a political federation by 2010 and 2012, respectively.
Ms Mutende said there was more talk than action.
Good coverage
The EALA praised the Daily Nation for giving the proceedings good coverage and writing an editorial that reflected the aspirations East Africans.
Mr Otieno Karana (Kenya) said the idea of integration was well received across the region and said it was bound to succeed.
The 45 members also debated a joint trade policy review conducted in collaboration with the World Trade Organisation.
They will be meeting in Nairobi for the next two weeks.
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