The\nEast African Community (EAC) Heads of State meeting in Arusha, Tanzania, have tasked\nPresident Yoweri Museveni to oversee the political federation process of the regional\nbloc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nresolution, announced by the EAC Secretary General, Liberat Mfumekeko, at the\nclose yesterday of the 20th Ordinary Summit of Heads of State at the Arusha\nInternational Conference Centre, indicated that member states \u2013 Kenya, Burundi,\nRwanda, Tanzania, South Sudan and Uganda \u2013 had nominated constitutional experts\nto guide the federation process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
President\nMuseveni said the Secretary General will now be responsible for offering\npolitical guidance to this team which is expected to present an interim report\nwithin seven months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Earlier,\nPresident Museveni, who is the outgoing Chairperson of the Community, handed\nover office to his Rwandan counterpart, Paul Kagame, with a positive projection\nof the Community’s future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nEast African Community, said President Museveni, has woken up and is now\naddressing core economic issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“For\na long time, with other groups like the World Bank, we have been talking about\nprivate sector led growth,” said President Museveni. “But private\nsector cannot come in if you do not solve high costs of doing business. East\nAfrica, however, is waking up.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nPresident pointed out that the Community was now tackling the key cost pushers,\nwhich include high cost of electricity, transport, labour and cost of finance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nregion, President Museveni noted, must put more effort into addressing the cost\nof finance, which, he said, was still a sticking issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Also\npresent at the Summit, held under the theme “Enhancing the Economic,\nSocial and Political Integration of the EAC”, were Presidents John Pombe\nMagufuli of Tanzania, Kenya’s Uhuru Kenyatta while 1st Vice President, Gastone\nSindimu, led Burundi\u2019s delegation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
South\nSudan’s President, Mr. Salva Kiir, was\nrepresented by his Minister for Trade and East African Affairs, Mr. Paul Mayom\nAkech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Both\nPresident Kagame of Rwanda and the EAC Secretary General, Mr. Mfumekeko, paid\ntribute to President Museveni for steering the Community well, since he assumed\nthe reins of the regional bloc in May 2017.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“I\nthank President Museveni. He has been very supportive,” said Mr.\nMfumekeko. “He has always given me audience when I needed it.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nSecretary General, noting that the EAC marks 20 years this year, listed several\nmilestones attained by the Community in the field of infrastructure, education\nand health, among others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nsingle customs territory, according to Mr. Mfumekeko, is in progress and\nmeasures already adopted, like one-stop border posts, are making it easier to\ndo business in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He\nsaid Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda were now recognizing national identity cards as\ntravel documents, adding: “The EAC of today is not that of 20\nyears ago. We are more vibrant with more improved change in socio-economic\nspheres.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n
BUSINESS\nCOMMUNITY APPEALS<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Addressing\nthe assembly, the Chairman of the East African Business Community, Mr. Nicholas\nNesbitt, challenged the regional economic bloc to walk the talk on integration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Let\nus think region before we think nation. Let us have an East African perspective\nto business. It is shameful that 150 million buy second-hand shoes, clothes,\nfrom third parties yet our cotton industries are dying, our ginneries\ndegenerating,” said Mr. Nesbitt, who is also the General Manager IBM East\nAfrica.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Let\nus produce value. We should manufacture and not just be traders. Let us create\nvalue chains. If Kenya assembles cars in Thika, why should the tyres not be\nmade in Tanzania, the exhaust pipes in Uganda and dashboards in Rwanda? Let it\nbe a truly East African car,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
NEW\nJUDGE SWEARS-IN\n\nAt\nthe Summit, Tanzania’s Justice Sauda Mujasiri, was sworn in as a Judge of the\nAppellate Division of the East African Court of Justice. \n\n\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The East African Community (EAC) Heads of State meeting in Arusha, Tanzania, have tasked President Yoweri Museveni to oversee the political federation process of the regional bloc. The resolution, announced by the EAC Secretary General, Liberat Mfumekeko, at the close yesterday of the 20th Ordinary Summit of Heads of State at the Arusha International Conference Centre, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27983,"featured_media":7911,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_paywall_metabox":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[98],"tags":[31],"class_list":["post-7910","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-featured"],"yoast_head":"\n