News

The East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) and the African European Parliamentary Initiative (AEPI) launched a seminar focused on strengthening democratic governance and political cooperation between African and European legislators. EALA Speaker welcomed the partnership, highlighting that the seminar could help reinforce democratic practices across the region. “This seminar presents an opportunity to strengthen the...

The East African Legislative Assembly on Wednesday passed a motion calling on partner states to legally recognise the right to food and take urgent action to combat rising hunger and malnutrition across the region. The motion, moved by South Sudanese lawmaker Woda Jeremiah, urges governments to integrate the right to adequate food into national...

KAMPALA — As the world this week marks International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD) on 3 December, lawmakers at the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) urged renewed commitment to disability inclusion and called for concrete institutional action. During a parliamentary sitting in Kampala on Wednesday, EALA member Paul Musamali while addressing the parliament...

Developing countries paid $741 billion more in external debt service than they received in new financing between 2022 and 2024, marking the largest net outflow in at least five decades, according to the World Bank’s International Debt Report released Wednesday. Despite the pressure, many low- and middle-income countries secured short-term relief in 2024 as...

The National Observatory for the Fight Against Transnational Crime (ONLCT) has sounded the alarm over what it calls a growing wave of technology-driven human trafficking in Burundi, warning that criminal networks are increasingly exploiting digital platforms to target vulnerable citizens. In a statement issued Tuesday to mark the International Day for the Abolition of...

Burundi’s presidency announced Monday that President Évariste Ndayishimiye has travelled to Washington, D.C., on Dec. 2 to attend the signing of what officials describe as a “historic peace accord” between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda. The ceremony, set for Dec. 4, follows an invitation from U.S. President Donald Trump, according to a communiqué issued...

KAMPALA — Women traders across East Africa continue to face harassment, abuse and exploitation at border crossings, forcing many to abandon official posts for unsafe, informal routes, a report presented Tuesday to the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) shows. Presenting the findings in Kampala, EALA Women Caucus Chairperson Ann Itto said fear of mistreatment...

Burundi’s military has denied deploying troops to Minembwe, a contested locality in South Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, rejecting claims circulating on social media that Burundian forces are blockading civilians in the area. In a statement issued Tuesday and signed by Brig. Gen. Gaspard Baratuza, the National Defense Force of...

The East African Legislative Assembly is calling for a sweeping regional regulations to govern social media use, warning that online misinformation, hate speech and cross-border digital abuse are outpacing existing national laws in East Africa. Falhada Dekow Iman EALA law maker on Tuesday tabled a motion urging the Council of Ministers and EAC partner...

Insecurity and instability in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo continue to devastate the livelihoods of small-scale women traders along the Kamvira–Gatumba border, according to a new oversight report presented to the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) in Kampala. Reading the report during the plenary, EALA Women Caucus Chairperson Ann Itto said women at the...