Nairobi — Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi is among leaders from 8 East African Community (EAC) countries who are in Zanzibar to discuss regional security and how to fast track the integration process of the block towards its ultimate goal of forming a political confederation.
The retreat drawing top officials from the ministries in charge of foreign affairs and the EAC in each state are meeting to firstly deliberate on the region's peace, security and relations between partner states that have recently been rocked by inter-state tensions especially in the Great Lakes Region.
The meeting, co-hosted by Tanzania and the EAC Secretariat headed by Secretary General Veronica Nduva, started on Saturday, July 6th and ends today.
It is chaired by the Chairman of the EAC Council of Ministers Deng Alor Kuol, who is the South Sudanese Minister for East African Community Affairs.
on its first sitting, on Saturday, the retreat discussed pertinent issues that impede a faster integration process, especially the conflicts in the Great Lakes Region that threaten peace, security and the integration process by engendering tensions among partner states.
The discussions revolved around tensions between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda, Rwanda and Burundi as well as a diplomatic tiff between DRC and Kenya that saw DRC recall their ambassador to Kenya in December 2023.
During the retreat, the ministers are expected to propose modalities for an amicable resolution of the hostilities and the return of cordial relations to ease the movement of people, goods and services across partner countries.
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On Sunday, the meeting discussed the status of the EAC integration process and proposed new deadlines for national consultations after which constitutional experts would work with the information provided to develop a model for a political confederation.
The ministers also deliberated on guidelines for the hosting of EAC institutions namely East African Legislative Assembly, The East African Court of Justice, The East African Monetary Institute and The East African Bureau of Statistics. Others are East African Competition Authority, The East African Financial Services Commission and The East African Surveillance, Compliance and Enforcement Commission.
The three-day meeting also discussed a raft of measures for enforcement and sanctions applicable to member states who fail to deliver on their commitments towards meeting the EAC financial obligations.
During its conclusion, the ministers will adopt the report of the three-day retreat and later present it to the Heads of State Summit for approval.
