Somalia's quest to join EAC delayed

MOGADISHU, Somalia - An application put forth by the Government of Somalia requesting to join the East Africa Community [EAC] will have to wait for a little while, it has emerged, following a meeting of Heads of States and governments who held an extraordinary summit, Saturday.

The virtual extraordinary summit of Heads of States revealed that Somalia's application had not been undertaken, a move which means that the Horn of Africa nation must now wait for a little longer before it's admitted.

“The summit noted that the verification exercise for the admission of the Federal Republic of Somalia into the East Africa Community had not been undertaken and directed the Council to follow up on the exercise,” EAC statement reads.

But the Democratic Republic of Congo [DRC] might have their application considered after the EAC asked the Council to undertake a verification mission. DRC’s admission to the community will be communicated by the Council during the 22nd Summit.

Also, the summit considered a report on the roadmap for accelerated integration of South Sudan into the EAC and directed the Council to conclude the progress.

President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya was elected as the new Chairperson of the East African Community. Uhuru took over from his Rwandan outgoing counterpart Paul Kagame who took over the leadership in February 2019.

During the summit, Dr. Peter Mutuku Mathuki from Kenya was appointed as the new Secretary-General of the Community for a 5-year non-renewable term. Mutuku is taking over from Amb. Liberat Mfumukeko was appointed with effect from April 2016.

Somalia has been pushing to join the summit, which comprises Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Burundi. The first three nations are the founder members of the summit which was first put in place in 1977.

GAROWE ONLINE