Burundian Legislator becomes New East African Parliament Speaker

By Marc Nkwame On Dec 20, 2022

After Rwandan Martin Ngoga bows out with his 4th House, Burundian Legislator, Ntakarutimana Joseph now Becomes New East African Legislative Assembly Speaker.

As it happens, the Fifth Assembly of the East Africa Legislative Assembly, sitting at its headquarters in Arusha has elected Ntakarutimana Joseph from Burundi to become the new Regional House Speaker.

As previously stated, Ntakarutimana is replacing Martin Ngoga, the legislator from Rwanda who has been leading the outgoing Fourth EALA assembly.

The Burundian Candidate, Ntakarutimana was elected uncontested after his two contenders from South Sudan, that is Dr. Leonardo Anne Itto and Gai Deng pulled out of the parliamentary race in the last minutes.

The new speaker is among the new EALA members from the seven member states that have just taken oath after joining the house in Arusha.

This is also the first Regional Parliament comprising of members from all the seven East African Community Member States that include Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan and its newest sibling, the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The oath taking ceremony for the more than 60 EALA Members was held in Arusha at the EAC Headquarters on Monday, December 19.

The East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) is currently made up of a total of 63 members.

Each country is represented by nine legislators and five Ministers who are Ex-officio envoys.

The EAC Secretary General and the Council to the Community also form the Legislative Assembly.

The assembly is governed by Article 9 of the Treaty establishing the East African Community.

The agreement was first signed on November 30, 1999, and came into force on July 7, 2000.

According to the provisions of the agreement, each country is represented by nine elected Deputies from each member state.

The Legislative Assembly’s goals include passing laws that regulate the community, monitoring government activities, and advocating on various issues that threaten the people of this community.