President Museveni, Ruto to headline African Speakers’ meeting in Kampala

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Kenyan President William Samoei Ruto is expected to attend the two-day Conference of Speakers and Presidents of African Legislatures (CoSPAL), set to take place this month, in Kampala.

The high-level summit, taking place in Munyonyo, builds on a fact-finding mission spearheaded by the Forum of Parliaments of the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (FP-ICGLR), where Tororo County MP Geoffrey Ekanya serves as an executive member.

“The chairperson of CoSPAL is the Speaker of Ghana (Alban Kingsford Sumana Bagbin). The vice chairpersons are the Speaker of Uganda (Anita Annet Among), Speaker of Democratic Republic of Congo (Christophe Mboso N'kodia Pwanga), Speaker of Morocco (Rachid Talbi El Alam), the Speaker of South Africa (Angela Thoko Didiza), among others,” Ekanya said.

Formed in 2006 by a summit of Heads of State from twelve nations, including Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Zambia, South Sudan, Sudan, Republic of Congo (Brazzaville), Angola, DR Congo, and the Central African Republic, the ICGLR was envisioned as a regional response mechanism to peace, governance, and security challenges.

In 2008, the bloc’s leaders met in Kigali and formally established the parliamentary forum as a platform for legislative diplomacy, oversight, and regional cooperation.

“The conference that is scheduled to take place on the 19th and 20th will bring together all 54 speakers of Africa, and will be opened by President Yoweri Museveni on day one. On day two, we expect President William Ruto, the chairperson of the East African Community (EAC) and chairperson of African Union (AU) institutional reform, to address the conference. The conference theme is Voice Of Resolve: Elevating the Voice of Speakers and Presidents of African Legislatures in Peace and Security,” Ekanya stated.

Among the key agenda items is a proposal to formally include African parliamentary speakers in all peace processes, among others. Speaker Anita Annet Among is also expected to present a paper advocating for the establishment of a Speakers' Strategic Centre for Peace and Security, aimed at positioning legislative leaders at the heart of conflict resolution and regional stability efforts.

With the broader goal being to foster collaboration and ensure that parliaments play a more prominent role in shaping and sustaining peace across the continent.

African peace-led processes under scrutiny

The development comes at a time when Africa-led peace processes appear to be losing ground. A striking example is the situation in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where it took the intervention of US President Donald Trump to broker a lasting peace deal between President Félix Tshisekedi’s government and the M23 rebels, who had seized large swathes of territory.

However, speaking today, MP Geoffrey Ekanya expressed optimism that not all is lost. Pointing out that the ICGLR played a pivotal role in the Luanda Roadmap, championed by Angolan President Joao Lourenco, which laid critical groundwork for the ongoing peace process.

“During the last General Assembly of April 2025, we had a meeting with him (Lourenco) and handed him a report of the fact-finding mission on DRC. It is that report which facilitated the initiative of Luanda and supported the Doha dialogue and all these missions that are taking place,” he explained.

Ekanya further noted that the crisis in the DRC is no longer confined to a bilateral issue.

“Recently, there was a joint summit of SADC and EAC heads of state. That’s why President William Ruto, in his capacity as the co-chair of the joint summit of SADC and EAC, will be here to address the Honourable Speakers on the progress of peace. The issue of DRC has engulfed several African countries, and therefore, it is not a question of Uganda and Rwanda. It is an issue of African people,” Ekanya added.