Houses of the Regional Assembly are convened by the President of the Regional Executive Council under the conditions laid down in Sections 280 and 281 of the law.
The two houses meet separately on the same dates.
They hold a joint meeting at the opening and closing of the session and when the agenda items relate to:
- The approval of the Regional Executive Council action programme;
- The validation of the Regional Executive Council progress report at the end of the financial year;
The two houses also hold a joint meeting when circumstances so require.
The two houses of the Regional Assembly also hold a joint meeting to initiate impeachment.
The standing orders of the Regional Assembly lay down the procedure and scope of impeachment
Questions to be submitted to the Regional Assembly are initiated concurrently by the Regional Executive Council President and by two thirds of the members of each house of the Regional Assembly
The Regional Assembly is chaired by the Regional Executive
Council President
When the Regional Executive Council President is absent or unavailable, the Vice-President chairs the Regional Assembly and, when the latter is unavailable, the Commissioner for Economic Development shall deputizes for him.
When the regional deliberation is adopted by the House of Divisional Representatives, it is forwarded within 24 (twenty-four) hours to the House of Chiefs, which may make amendments and return it for a second reading to the House of Divisional Representatives, together with the reasons for its rejection
The rejection of all or part of a deliberation by the House of Chiefs is valid only where it is decided by an absolute majority of House members.
When the disagreement persists, the House of Divisional Representatives adopts the deliberation by a simple majority of its members and forward it to the Regional Executive Council President for implementation.
All deliberations adopted by the Regional Assembly are forwarded to the representative of the State.
The Regional Assembly adopts the standing orders of the entire House.
The House of Divisional Representatives and the House of Chiefs adopts their respective standing orders separately.
The participation of the Representative of the State or his duly authorized Representative at Regional Assembly meetings is be as of right.
Whenever he so requests, the Representative of the State or his duly authorized Representative shall be heard, but may neither vote nor chair the Regional Assembly. His statements are recorded in the minutes of the proceedings.
In January following the end of the financial year, the Representative of the State presents a special report on the activities of State services in the region to the Regional Assembly. The special report is discussed in his presence.
The deliberations of the Regional Assembly are recorded in chronological order in a register numbered and initiated by the Representative of the State.