Arusha Regional Commissioner pays courtesy call on the EAC Secretary General
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 8th July, 2021: The Arusha Regional Commissioner (RC), Mr. John V. K. Mongella, on Thursday paid a courtesy call on the EAC Secretary General, Hon. Dr. Peter Mathuki, at the EAC Headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania.
Receiving the RC, Hon. Dr. Mathuki said that it was the wish of the Summit of EAC Heads of State that the Community should be taken to the people at the grassroots who are its actual owners. Dr. Mathuki said that under the Treaty for the Establishment of the EAC, the integration process is supposed to be people-centred and market-driven with the private sector as the engine of economic growth.
The Secretary General said that the EAC would henceforth involve the private sector and as many stakeholders as possible in driving integration initiatives to ensure ownership of the process.
Dr. Mathuki said that EAC would work with Partner States to prioritise economic recovery in the post-COVID era to demonstrate that East Africa was getting back to business and learning to live with COVID-19.
The SG informed the RC that EAC would mount social responsibility programmes for Arusha residents where possible as part of efforts to build goodwill with its host community.
He said that the Community was also considering promoting locally produced content as directed by the Council of Ministers especially for textiles and leather products by setting aside special days particularly Fridays where Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and women traders would sell their wares at the EAC premises.
“When we create wealth and there is enough for everyone, people will begin focusing on bigger things and that is how our region will grow. Whenever there is scarcity, people focus on minor things which in turn fosters unnecessary conflicts,” said Dr. Mathuki.
In his remarks, RC Mongella told the SG that his role was to ensure the safety, security and property of all the residents of Arusha region, and urged the EAC management to report any security concerns affecting the Community and its staff to his office.
RC Mongella assured Dr. Mathuki that his office would always remain wide open and provide the necessary support to enable the Community achieve its objectives.
“President Samia Suluhu is out to take the country to the next level and what is required of us as regional administrators is to do whatever we can to make our regions more prosperous by facilitating ease of doing business in our areas of jurisdiction,” said Mr. Mongella.
“Arusha under my stewardship shall at all times reflect the face of the EAC by being secure, clean and with a conducive business environment,” said Mr. Mongella.
The Secretary General also handed over a consignment of 3,000 bed nets to the Regional Commissioner for distribution to schools and Arusha residents as part of malaria containment measures during the rainy seasons.
Also present at the function were the Speaker of the East African Legislative Assembly, Hon. Ngoga Martin, the Deputy Secretary General in charge of the Social and Productive Sectors, Hon. Christophe Bazivamo, the DSG in charge of Planning and Infrastructure, Eng. Steven Mlote, and Mr. Jacob Msekwa, Protocol Officer in the office of the Regional Commissioner.
For more information, please contact:
Simon Peter Owaka
Senior Public Relations Officer
Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Department
EAC Secretariat
Arusha, Tanzania
Tel: +255 768 552087
Email: sowaka [at] eachq.org
About the East African Community Secretariat:
The East African Community (EAC) is a regional intergovernmental organisation of six Partner States, comprising Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda, with its headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania.
The EAC Secretariat is ISO 9001: 2015 Certified