East Africa: Rwanda, Burundi lawmakers join EAC parliament

(SomaliNet) As the East African assembly gathered in the Kenyan capital Nairobi, lawmakers from newcomers Rwanda and Burundi were sworn in Tuesday as members of the East African parliament.

Rwanda and Burundi joined the EAC in July 1997, expanding its membership to five and creating a wider market. Initially, the bloc was made up of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, whose MPs took oath in June last year.

Reports said nine representatives from each of the two newcomers took an oath before the East Africa Legislative Assembly, the lawmaking wing of the East African Community (EAC).

Kenneth Marande, Kenyan parliament speaker, who chaired the session, urged the 45-member assembly to expedite laws that would speed up members\' ambitions of forming a federation.

The EAC countries plan to hold referenda by September 2009 on adopting a common currency by the end of 2009 and formally creating a federation with a president, cabinet, parliament and supreme court by January 2010.

Originally established in 1967, the EAC collapsed a decade later amidst deteriorating ties and diverging economic philosophies. The relative economic strength of Kenya also eroded the viability of the union.

It was resurrected in 2000 as leaders of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania agreed to create a European Union-style common market for their 90 million citizens to strengthen their economic and political clout.

With the new members, the region now has a land area of 1.9 million square kilometres, a population of around 115 million people and a combined Gross Domestic Product of more than 41 billion dollars.-AFP