Two bills in line with the establishment of the East African Community (EAC) Monetary Union are among the key businesses that East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) intends to transact during its sessions being held in Kigali. Martin Ngoga, EALA Speaker, said they are EAC Surveillance, Compliance and Enforcement Commission Bill, 2022 which intends to establish the EAC Surveillance, Compliance and Enforcement Commission, and EAC Financial Services Bill, 2022, which aims to establish the EAC Financial Services Commission as an institution of the Community. He made the observation on Tuesday, October 25, during a press conference opening the EAC legislative organ’s session, which is taking place at the Parliament of Rwanda’s premises from October 23 to November 05, 2022. “According to the protocols and stated roadmap, certain institutions and certain laws and legal framework need to be put in place. These bills that I just told you about are in line with that: The roadmap towards the monetary union,” he told journalists. He said that various EALA committees have been conducting public hearings to seek the views of the public on these bills. “So what we shall do here [during the Sitting in Kigali], is to receive the reports of the committees that were tasked to this gathering of public opinion [on these bills], and if possible, given time ... to conduct other processes and complete the process of legislating those bills,” he said. “Our wish is that we shall vote for these bills before we end our Plenary here,” he said. The East African Monetary Union (EAMU) is an important stage in the process of EAC Regional Integration, according to the block. EAMU Protocol was adopted in accordance with the EAC Treaty and signed on November 30, 2013. It lays groundwork for a monetary union within 10 years (by 2024) and allows the EAC Partner States to progressively converge their currencies into a single currency in the Community, it stated. In the run-up to achieving a single currency, the EAC Partner States aim to harmonise monetary and fiscal policies; financial, payment and settlement systems; financial accounting and reporting practices; and policies and standards on statistical information; and, establish an East African Central Bank, the Community indicates. On February 26, 2022, the EAC Council of Ministers designated July 1, 2021, as the date for the coming into effect of the East African Monetary Institute (EAMI), a transitional mechanism to the East African Central Bank that will issue the single currency, which is expected to be in place by 2024. EAMI is one of the four institutions expected to carry out much of the preparatory work for the creation of the East African Monetary Union. The other three institutions are the EAC Financial Services Commission; EAC Surveillance, Compliance and Enforcement Commission; and EAC Statistics Commission. Other bills to be discussed by the regional parliament sitting in Kigali include the EAC Supplementary Appropriation Bill, the EAC Customs Management (Amendment) Bill, 2022, which aims to streamline and rationalise customs administration, operations and procedures adopted by the Community. Also to be deliberated on during the two week period are reports from various Committees of the House, including that on the status of implementation of universal health coverage in the EAC, in particular HIV & AIDS shall also be tabled and debated. This report follows an oversight activity carried in Partner States by EALA's Committee on General Purpose.
