Debate on EAC Statistics Bill resumes
What you need to know:
- The East African Community (EAC) Statistics Bill, 2017, seeks to roll out the implementation of the Monetary Union protocol through establishment of a Statistics Bureau
Arusha. Finally the much anticipated regional Statistics Bill will be debated at the East African Legislative Assembly (Eala), which resumed its session here yesterday.
The East African Community (EAC) Statistics Bill, 2017, seeks to roll out the implementation of the Monetary Union Protocol through establishment of a Statistics Bureau.
“Key items expected at the sitting include debate on the EAC Statistics Bill, 2017,” Mr Bobi Odiko, the Eala senior Public Relations officer said in a statement yesterday.
The debate on the crucial document was halted early this month during the House session following a request by Tanzania to allow for further consultations.
But Mr Odiko affirmed yesterday that it was now ready for debate and it would be among key matters that would dominate the House session which continues until November 10.
Under it, the envisaged Statistics Bureau will be established as an institution of the Community under Article 9 of the EAC Treaty and Article 21 of the Monetary Union Protocol.
The Bill was tabled by the EAC Council of Ministers, the policy organ of the Community, on the premise that the proposed body was needed to back up the monetary union road map.
It also provides for the functions, powers, governance and its funding with a view to establishing an institution responsible for the statistics in a bid to support the protocol signed in 2013. The House will likewise debate the report of the EAC Audited Accounts for the financial year ending June 30, 2017, which was also deferred during the recent sitting in Arusha.
Eala, which is the legislative arm of the EAC, holds six plenary sessions every year on the principle of rotation among the partner states in the bloc.
The Assembly has six standing committees which are Committee of Accounts, Legal Rules and Privileges and Communication, Trade and Investment.
Others are the Committee on Agriculture, Tourism and Natural Resources, Regional Affairs and Conflict Resolution and the Committee of General Purpose.
