East African Parliament members set to debate social media regulation

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The East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) has commenced the second meeting of the fourth session of the fifth assembly in Uganda's capital, Kampala city, with back-to-back committee meetings.

As Speaker Joseph Ntakirutimana’s communique on Monday this week said, Uganda will host the regional bloc’s parliament from Monday, November 24, 2025, to Friday, December 4, 2025.

Thereafter, a summit of the eight Heads of State will convene in Nairobi on December 6 for high-level discussions on the pressing matters.

Business conducted

Among the committees that sat on November 25, was the Committee on Agriculture, Tourism and Natural Resources, chaired by former Uganda-based Ngora Woman MP Jacqueline Amongin, which received a briefing on the proposed “Capacity Building on Agro-ecology by the Centre for Food and Adequate Living Rights (CEFROHT).

The other was the Legal and Rules Committee, which met to consider petitions before it.

Both committees were closed to the press, with committee leaders emphasising that members needed to harmonise several in-house issues.

Today, Wednesday, November 26, 2025, as per the programme, business will resume with the committee on accounts considering the report on audited accounts for the East African Community (EAC) for the years ended June 30, 2023 and June 30, 2024.

Also, the committee on general purpose shall meet to consider and adopt the draft reports of hybrid meetings with the council of ministers between 2021 and 2023.

After which the House shall go for plenary in the afternoon with a number of motions, including the ‘Report of the EALA Women Caucus on the Role of Women in Cross-Border Trade’ high on the agenda.

Interestingly, the programme also indicates a motion for resolution of the house, urging the Council of Ministers and Partner States to develop a regional and legal framework to regulate and promote responsible use of social media platforms. The latter is meant to be moved by Falhada Dekow Iman from Kenya.

Committees precincts

According to the Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community, Article 48(3) states that “the Assembly shall have committees which shall be constituted in the manner provided in the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly and shall perform the functions provided in respect thereof in the said Rules of Procedure.”

Further, Article 49(2)(e) provides that the Assembly “may, for purposes of carrying out its functions, establish any committee or committees for such purposes as it deems necessary.”

This means EALA is fully empowered to make its own Rules of Procedure and to constitute committees.

The adopted Rules of Procedure (as amended in February 2003) provide for a committee system of seven standing committees, with the option of appointing select committees when necessary.

The six EALA standing committees established under Article 78 of the Rules of Procedure are:

• Accounts Committee
• Legal, Rules and Privileges Committee
• Communication, Trade and Investment Committee
• Agriculture, Tourism and Natural Resources Committee
• Committee on Regional Affairs and Conflict Resolution
• General Purpose Committee

Members of standing committees are nominated from among the Members of the Assembly and serve for a term of two and a half years, after which fresh nominations are made.

Each standing committee elects its Chairperson from among its members, who also serves for a two-and-a-half-year term, save for the House Business Committee.