Arusha ready to host 22nd Ordinary Summit of the EAC Heads of State
ARUSHA– Preparations are in high gear for the East African Community [EAC] Heads of State Retreat on the EAC Common Market and the 22nd Ordinary Summit of the EAC Heads of State scheduled for July 21 and 22, 2022, respectively at the Arusha International Conference Centre, in Arusha, Tanzania.
About 300 participants from Partner States, private sector, civil society, and development partners are expected to attend both the High-Level Retreat and the 22nd Summit.
During their High-Level Retreat on the Common Market, the Heads of State are expected to, among other things: take stock of the progress of implementation of the EAC Common Market Protocol; adopt strategic measures to unlock the lags and bottlenecks in establishment of the Common Market; agree on a roadmap for the full realization of the Common Market, and; identify key areas where Development Partners can contribute to the attainment of the Common Market.
At their 22nd Ordinary Meeting, the EAC Heads of State will, among other things: consider the Report of the Council to the Summit; assent to Bills passed by the East African Legislative Assembly [EALA].
Some of the bills waiting to be assented to by the Heads of State are; The East African Community Cooperative Societies Bill, 2014, The EAC Statistics Bureau Bill, 2017, The East African Community Polythene Materials Control Bill, 2016, The EAC Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights Bill, 2017, The Administration of East African Court of Justice Bill, 2016 and The EAC Sectional Properties Bill, 2016, among several others.
The Heads of State will also consider the report of the High-level Summit Retreat on the EAC Common Market, and; appoint Judges to the East African Court of Justice.
Meanwhile, on Friday morning, the Heads of State are expected to launch the 42.4 km Arusha Bypass Road. The bypass is part of the multinational Arusha – Holili /Taveta – Voi Road Project.
The bypass was co-funded by the African Development Bank [AfDB], the Africa Trade Fund, and the governments of Tanzania and Kenya to the tune of US$173.86 million.
The two events come after The Democratic Republic of the Congo [DRC] finally became a member of the EAC on July 11, 2022, after depositing the instrument of ratification with the EAC Secretary General.
Handing over the instrument of ratification to the EAC Secretary General Dr. Peter Mathuki, DRC’s Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Christophe Lutundula Apala Pen’ Apala, said that the entry of his country into the EAC was an economic, cultural, geographical, and historical obligation.
Countries that form the EAC are; Burundi, DRC, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda. Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda first formed the EAC in 1967.
The first EAC, which succeeded the East African Common Services Organization on December 1, 1967, was established by the Treaty for East African Co-operation, signed in June 1967 by the then presidents of Kenya [Jomo Kenyatta], Tanzania [Julius Kambarage Nyerere, and Uganda [Apollo Milton Obote].
The EAC would be dissolved in 1977 after then Ugandan president Idi Amin caused chaos in the region, but links between the three governments of Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda were reaffirmed with the establishment of the Permanent Tripartite Commission for East African Co-operation in November 1993.
That body continued the mission of the EAC until July 2000, when the Treaty for the Establishment of the EAC entered into force. The second incarnation of the EAC was intended to integrate its members much more deeply, with the ultimate goal of establishing a regional political federation akin to the European Union. Rwanda and Burundi joined the EAC in 2007 and South Sudan became a member in 2016 after getting independence from the Republic of Sudan on July 9, 2011.
https://thecooperator.news/eac-needs-to-create-120mln-jobs-think-tank-says/
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