Brussels
5th Regional meeting, ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly 23/07/2010
The 5th Regional meeting of the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly (Eastern Africa) was held in Mahe, Seychelles, from 13 to 15 July 2010. Kenya’s delegation to the meeting included Hon. Margaret Kamar, MP – leader of delegation, Hon. Musikari Kombo, MP, Amb. Kembi Gitura, Ambassador – Kenya Embassy Brussels, Mr. Mohamed Ali, Clerk Assistant, Kenya National Assembly, and Ms. Rose Sumbeiywo – Political Officer, Kenya Embassy Brussels.
The agenda of the meeting was built upon issues that are important to the Eastern Africa Region. The issues included: Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs), regional integration and cooperation processes in the Eastern Africa Region, peace and security in the Region, and the fight against piracy.
Invited speakers included representatives of the African Union, COMESA and the East Africa Legislative Assembly (EALA).
During the discussion on the EPAs, the Parliamentarians emphasised on their need to closely monitor the negotiation, conclusion and implementation of EPAs in order to continuously assess their impact on various sectors in their countries. On the discussions on peace and security, the parliamentarians regretted that the Eastern Africa Region had been affected by internal and external armed conflicts, violence, border disputes and the most recent cases of piracy off the coast of East Africa. They noted that these issues had seriously affected the lives of many people in the Region. In order to deal with these issues, they agreed on the need to have better developed political, socio-economic, legal and institutional frameworks in each of the countries in the Region.
During the session, the members were hosted to a reception on the first evening by H.E Mr. James Michel, President of Seychelles, and on the last evening by Hon. Mr. Patrick Herminie, Speaker of the Seychelles National Assembly.
