East African Community Secretariat; Arusha, Tanzania; 28 July 2017:
The East African Community attaches great importance to the promotion of democracy which will in turn guarantee political stability in the region.
The Head of the EAC Election Observer Mission (EOM) to Rwanda, former Kenyan Vice President Moody Awori, said that no country could expect to attain economic growth, peace and security without the stamp of legitimacy from its citizens.
“This is why we as a Community are keen on free, fair and transparent elections in all the six Partner States,” said Mr. Awori.
Mr. Awori disclosed that the Community will be deploying a total of 10 teams of EAC Observers to all the Provinces of Rwanda sampling 30 districts to assess the level of preparedness of the elections as well as the polling process.
“The Mission will issue a statement of its preliminary findings on the elections on 6th August, 2017 through a press conference,” said the former VP, adding that the EAC would subsequently release a comprehensive report through its policy organs after the end of the electoral process in Rwanda.
Mr. Awori made the remarks when he formally launched the Mission at a Kigali hotel.
The Rwandan presidential election, which will be held on 4th August, 2017, will be contested by the incumbent president Paul Kagame of the Rwandan Patriotic Front, Frank Habineza of the Democratic Green Party and journalist Philippe Mpayimana who is running as an independent candidate.
The former VP said that in its assessment of the electoral process, the EAC Mission would be guided by the democratic principles and values outlined in the African Charter for Democracy, Elections and Governance, and the EAC Principles for Election Observation and Evaluation.
The EOM comprises 30 short-term observers drawn from the East African Legislative Assembly, national Human Rights Commissions, Electoral Management Bodies, Civil Society, EAC Youth Ambassadors and the Staff of the EAC Secretariat.
The Mission arrived in Kigali on 26th July, 2017 and will remain in the country until 7th August, 2017. It was preceded by a team of election experts from the EAC Partner States who arrived on 16th July, 2017.
The Mission will observe the concluding stages of the election campaigns and engage with various stakeholders as well as observe the voting and counting processes on and after 4th August, 2017.
Also present at the launch were the EAC Deputy Secretary General in charge of Political Federation, Mr. Charles Njoroge, and Ms. Flavia Sarafina, acting Director General at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and East African Affairs, Rwanda.
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For more information, please contact:
Mr Owora Richard Othieno Head, Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Department EAC Secretariat Arusha, Tanzania Tel: +255 784 835021 Email: OOthieno [at] eachq.org
About the East African Community Secretariat:
The East African Community (EAC) is a regional intergovernmental organisation of five Partner States, comprising Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, with its headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania.
East African Community Secretariat; Arusha, Tanzania; 27 July 2017:
The East African Community is dispatching Election Observer Missions to the Presidential Elections in the Republic of Rwanda scheduled to take place on 4th August 2017, and to the General Elections in the Republic of Kenya, due to take place on 8th August 2017.
The Missions in the two Partner States are being undertaken in two phases; the Long Term Observer Mission/or Pre Election Mission (PEMi); and the Short Term Election Observer Mission. The EAC Long Term Observer Mission/or Pre Election Mission (PEMi) arrived in Rwanda and Kenya respectively on 16th July 2017 and will depart on 14th August 2017. The Short Term Election Observer Mission arrived in Rwanda on Wednesday 26th July and will depart on 7th August, while for Kenya, it will arrive on 30th July and depart on 11th August 2017.
In line with the Guiding Policy, the two Partner States (Rwanda and Kenya) will not observe their own elections.
The EAC Elections Observer Missions to the two Partner States are in response to the invitation by their National Electoral Management Bodies to the Secretariat as well as a response to the decision of the EAC Council of Ministers on observation of elections in the Partner States. The Missions’ mandate is to observe the overall electoral environment, pre-election activities, the polling day, the counting and tallying of results.
The members of the EAC Election Observer Missions have been drawn from different but complementary disciplines and includes, former Members of the East African Legislative Assembly (nominated by their countries) as well as Members of National Assemblies from Tanzania, Uganda, South Sudan and Burundi; National Electoral Commissions; National Human Rights Commissions; Civil society organizations; and youth representatives from EAC Youth Ambassadors Platform.
Commenting ahead of the deployment of the EAC Election Observer Missions, the EAC Deputy Secretary General in charge of Political Federation, Mr. Charles Njoroge says the two Missions were being undertaken pursuant to Article 3 of the Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community which requires “…adherence to universally acceptable principles of democratic governance and in line with the EAC Principles of Election Observation and Evaluation.
The EAC Deputy Secretary General asserts that “as the region moves deeper in the integration process with the ultimate goal of having a Political Federation, EAC Partner States need to standardize their governance practices and should take keen interest in each other’s’ political and electoral processes”.
Mr. Njoroge contends that successful and peaceful elections in the two Partner States are of paramount importance to the regional integration agenda in order to underpin the outstanding milestones the region has so far achieved through regional integration. “Therefore we expect successful missions in the two Partner States and we very much hope that they will further strengthen the democratic process and advance development in the region’.
The Heads of the Missions are expected to prepare Reports for consideration by the EAC Council of Ministers ahead of transmittal to the respective National Electoral Management Bodies for implementation as may be deemed appropriate.
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For more information, please contact:
Mr Owora Richard Othieno Head, Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Department EAC Secretariat Arusha, Tanzania Tel: +255 784 835021 Email: OOthieno [at] eachq.org
About the East African Community Secretariat:
The East African Community (EAC) is a regional intergovernmental organisation of five Partner States, comprising Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, with its headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania.
East African Community Secretariat; Arusha, Tanzania; 24 July 2017:
The East African Community Secretariat has prepared the 1st regional Industrial Competitiveness Report 2017, which will be released to the public in October 2017.
The inaugural Industrial Competitiveness Report (ICR) 2017 is the result of collaboration among selected experts from the EAC Secretariat and Partner States, from both public and private sector, trained by United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) experts in selected courses and methodologies, including the UNIDO Competitiveness Industrial Performance Analysis, under the regional project Strengthening institutional capacities for industrial policy in the East African Community (EAC) and funded by the Republic of Korea.
Addressing a stakeholder workshop convened to discuss the findings at the EAC Headquarters on Thursday 20th July 2017, the EAC Deputy Secretary General (Finance and Administration), Hon. Jesca Eriyo said the Report was one of the analytical output stemming from the EAC-UNIDO Programme for Strengthening Institutional Capacities for Industrial Policy Management, Monitoring and Evaluation.
Hon. Eriyo reiterated that the Community had made tremendous progress in its integration roadmap and that the market enlargement arising from the Common Market had created immense opportunities for doing business in the region but more importantly, opportunities for increasing production, diversification of economic base, realization of economies of scale; and finally opportunities for accelerating industrialization in each Partner States and EAC region as a whole.
The Deputy Secretary General, who represented the Secretary General, Amb. Liberat Mfumukeko at the occasion, said that in the EAC Region, the capacity and performance of the public sector that deals with industry related matters was generally low, and as a result, implementation of industry related policies and strategies had in some cases been inadequate, constrained by a number of factors, including inadequate industrial governance systems as well as weak monitoring and evaluation frameworks.
She noted that other issues that need to be addressed to foster and sustain industrial growth include inadequate capability to design, implement and monitor policies and strategies; challenges to enhance private sector participation; and inadequate systems for collecting, processing, storing and dissemination of industrial information, among others.
The EAC official commended the Government of Korea for financing the programme and UNIDO, who is the implementing partner.
Addressing the same workshop, the EAC Deputy Secretary General in charge of Planning and Infrastructure, Eng. Steven Mlote decried the huge amount of resources that the Community is losing in exporting raw materials, leading to the loss of job and investment opportunities. He reiterated the need for the region to work together in developing the manufacturing sector rather than competing against each other.
The EAC Principal Industrial Economist, Mr. George Ndira said industrialization should be a concern for the EAC Secretariat and it (Secretariat) should continue advocating for industrialization as it is the surest way to lift Partner States’ economies from the dependency syndrome and help in pulling millions of the population from abject poverty.
Mr. Ndira, who was representing the Director for Productive Sector, said the ICR is a compass to assist the region in monitoring our progress towards the goal of economic transformation and diversification. “This workshop is an opportune moment for all us to understand where we are and how much distance we are yet to cover to get to a stable state for long-term economic prosperity” noted the EAC Principal Industrial Economist.
While presenting the findings of the EAC Industrial Competitiveness Report 2017, Mr. Andrea Antonelli from UNIDO’s Research and Industrial Policy Advice Group, said the main objective of the Report was to provide a compass to policy-makers, the private sector, and generally a wider audience of stakeholders interested and/or involved in industry on the broad direction of the industrial development trajectory of the EAC.
He said the Report was also intended to provide evidence-based, shared and implementable policy recommendations for the EAC and Partner States’ policy makers; and to generate further awareness on the importance to coordinate economic development activities in the EAC around a common goal to enhance industrial/manufacturing development.
“Specifically, the study was to provide a useful diagnostic tool for the EAC Secretariat as an important input to review its Industrial Policy and Strategy; act as a monitoring tool to assess progress against EAC and national industrial development targets and present a list of agreed indicators for EAC harmonized industrial performance assessment; among others” affirmed the UNIDO official.
The report, which will be launched and availed to the public in September/October 2017, states that Manufacturing Value Added (MVA) and manufacturing trade growth rates sustained by the EAC in recent years stand above global average but only around average of Sub-Saharan Africa.
However, these growth rates fall short of some of the targets set in the EAC Industrialization Policy and stand below similar Regional Economic Communities in Sub-Saharan Africa including ECOWAS.
The same growth rates of the manufacturing sector have not kept pace with the service sector, thus insufficient to impress that acceleration needed to achieve the structural change targets set in the regional and in most national industrial policies/overarching development plans.
The report argues that an important cause and at the same time consequence of this limited performance lies in the disconnected fabric of the industrial sector in the EAC Partner States, impressing only weak backward and forward linkages among manufacturing subsectors as well as with non-manufacturing sectors of the economy. Strong interlinkages would strengthen the economy and foster a more robust industrialization process.
On the other side, the past 10-15 years have shown signs of upward convergence among Partner States both in terms of MVA and manufacturing trade values, particularly with Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda growing significantly faster than their regional role model, Kenya.
The EAC regional market proves to be one of the most dynamic markets in the world and hence provides a great opportunity for regional firms to expand.
While in most cases EAC manufacturing firms managed to increase their intra-regional exports in certain dynamic sectors, this did not happen at the pace and extent needed to match the EAC demand growth, thus resulting in the EAC losing market shares particularly against emerging economies such as India (pharmaceuticals, heavy petroleum), China (iron and steel products and fertilizers) and Malaysia (Fixed vegetable oils).
The above findings call for renewed efforts to boost the manufacturing sector in the region and in Partner States and should not discourage the latest emphasis placed by many Partner States in this important common endeavour.
The comments received during the stakeholders workshop is expected to enrich phase two of the regional program on “Strengthening Institutional Capacities for Industrial Policy Management, Monitoring and Evaluation in the EAC region”.
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For more information, please contact:
Mr Owora Richard Othieno Head, Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Department EAC Secretariat Arusha, Tanzania Tel: +255 784 835021 Email: OOthieno [at] eachq.org
About the East African Community Secretariat:
The East African Community (EAC) is a regional intergovernmental organisation of five Partner States, comprising Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, with its headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania.
East African Community Secretariat; Arusha, Tanzania; 17 July 2017:
The Republic of Madagascar has become the 20th country to sign the Tripartite Free Trade Agreement. The agreement brings together three regional economic communities-COMESA, EAC and SADC- into a single free trade area. The Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) constitutes 57% of Africa’s population with a combined GDP of US$1.3 trillion as of 2015, making it one of the largest free trade areas in the world.
The Tripartite Agreement was signed on Thursday 13th July 2017 by His Excellency Mahafaly Solonandrasana Olivier, Prime Minister of the Republic of Madagascar, on behalf of the Government, in Antananarivo, Madagascar.
The signing ceremony was witnessed by Mr. Sindiso Ngwenya, the Secretary General of COMESA, who represented the Secretary General of the East African Community and the current Chairperson of the Tripartite Task Force, Amb. Liberat Mfumukeko, and the Secretary General of SADC, Dr. Stergomena. Tax.
In attendance also was Hon. Nourdine Chabany, Minister of Industry and Private Sector representing the Minister of Trade and Consumption of the Republic of Madagascar; the Counsel to the Community, Hon. Dr. Kafumbe Mukasa; senior Government Officials; representatives of the Private Sector; Their Excellencies the Ambassadors of Mauritius and South Africa; as well as the Ambassador designate of the Republic of Madagascar to the African Union.
The European Union was represented by Mr. Lothar Jaschke, Head of of Sector, Political, Press and Information from the EU Delegation in Madagascar.
The Republic of South Africa became the 19th country to sign the Tripartite Free Trade Agreement during the 6th meeting of the Tripartite Sectoral Ministerial Committee of on Trade, Customs, Finance, Economic Matters and Home/Internal Affairs (TSMC) held on 7 July 2017 in Kampala, Uganda.
At the 6th meeting of the Tripartite Sectoral Ministerial Committee, the Secretary General of the East African Community, Amb. Liberat Mfumukeko reported that 18 Member/Partner States had signed the Agreement and that Egypt was the only country to have ratified it. A total of 14 ratifications are required for the Agreement to enter force.
Amb. Liberat Mfumukeko informed the meeting that South Africa and Madagascar were ready to sign the Agreement and encouraged the remaining countries to follow suit. South Africa subsequently signed the Agreement in Kampala.
At that Kampala meeting, the Secretary General reported progress on the legal scrubbing of Annexes II, IV and X, negotiations on tariff offers and the signature and ratification of the Agreement.
Amb. Mfumukeko indicated that there had been limited progress on Phase II negotiations and the Agreement on the Movement of Business Persons. However, studies on Phase II issues had been undertaken and disseminated and that TTF was in the process of mobilizing resources to facilitate the necessary consultative meetings.
At the 6th meeting of the Tripartite Sectoral Ministerial Committee, Uganda’s Minister of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives, Hon. Amelia Kyambadde, stated that the intra-Tripartite trade was only 19% of the continent’s $930 billion total trade and this could be attributed to low industrialization, restricted movement of labour, poor infrastructure and high dependency on the export of unprocessed commodities.
The Minister observed that the Tripartite provided the opportunities to unlock the enormous trade and investment potential of the bloc. In this regard, the business community was waiting anxiously towards the opening up of the market of over 600 million people. She further observed that almost all the Annexes had been finalized save for the built in agenda.
At the same meeting, South Africa’s Minister of Trade and Industry, Hon. Dr. Rob Davies observed that the outstanding Annexes had been concluded and highlighted the need to have a functional FTA that would benefit the business community. He noted that the TFTA was a building block for the Continental FTA, hence the need to make more progress in the TFTA negotiations.
The Kampala meeting was attended by delegates from Angola, Botswana, Burundi, D.R. Congo, Egypt, Kenya, Malawi, Mauritius, Namibia, Rwanda, Seychelles, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
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Notes to Editor:
At the 1st Tripartite Summit of Heads of State and Government held in Kampala in October, 2008 leaders of 26 African countries met and took a bold step to establish the largest trading arrangement in Africa.
The 3rd Tripartite Summit of Heads of State and Government signed the Tripartite Free Trade Area (FTA) Agreement on 10thJune, 2015 at Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt. The Agreement was expected to come into force 30 days after 14 Tripartite Member/Partner States deposit instruments of ratification. The Tripartite Summit also signed the Sharm el Sheikh Declaration launching the Tripartite FTA and commencement of Phase II of the Tripartite negotiations and adopted a Tripartite FTA Post Signature Implementation Roadmap.
For more information, please contact:
Mr Owora Richard Othieno Head, Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Department EAC Secretariat Arusha, Tanzania Tel: +255 784 835021 Email: OOthieno [at] eachq.org
About the East African Community Secretariat:
The East African Community (EAC) is a regional intergovernmental organisation of five Partner States, comprising Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, with its headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania.
East African Community Secretariat; Arusha, Tanzania; 14 July 2017:
The Secretary General of the East African Community, Amb. Liberat Mfumukeko has conveyed a message of condolence to H.E President Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta, following the untimely death of Amb. Bethuel Kiplagat, a career diplomat and distinguished public servant.
In a condolence message signed on his behalf by Hon. Jesca Eriyo, the Deputy Secretary General in charge of Finance and Administration, Amb. Liberat Mfumukeko states that “We mourn the passing of a great son of Kenya and East Africa and a towering figure of our time who has left an indelible imprint on the history of the region through his untiring efforts in peace building”.
“The Community notes with pride that the departed diplomat was also actively involved in the peace talks and negotiations that led to the independence of the Republic of South Sudan, EAC’s newest Partner State”.
The condolence message states that when the EAC Heads of State Summit approved the establishment and functioning of the EAC Panel of Eminent Persons in February 2015 to operationalize the East African Community Conflict Prevention and Management Resolution Mechanism, Amb. Kiplagat was among the first to be appointed to the Panel.
“The main task of the Panel is to advise the Summit, the Council and Secretary General on issues related to the promotion and maintenance of peace, security and stability by conducting preventive diplomacy and peaceful resolution of conflicts in the Community”, Amb. Mfumukeko notes in his condolence letter.
“Together with other EAC Eminent Persons, Amb. Kiplagat undertook preventive diplomacy missions to Burundi through participation in various roundtables dialogues and holding one on one consultation with key Burundi stakeholders”.
“The entire Community and I share with You, the bereaved family, and the Government and people of Kenya, the feelings of great loss at this time of deep sorrow”, concludes the condolence message.
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For more information, please contact:
Mr Owora Richard Othieno Head, Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Department EAC Secretariat Arusha, Tanzania Tel: +255 784 835021 Email: OOthieno [at] eachq.org
About the East African Community Secretariat:
The East African Community (EAC) is a regional intergovernmental organisation of five Partner States, comprising Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, with its headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania.
East African Community Secretariat; Arusha, Tanzania; 14 July 2017:
The East African Community(EAC) Secretariat together with Partner States will hold the 3rd edition of the Jumuiya ya Afrika Mashariki Utamaduni Festival (JAMAFEST) from 7th – 15th September 2017 in Kampala, Uganda.
The main objective of the Festival is to promote regional socio-cultural integration through arts and culture by providing a regional platform to showcase culture as a prime driver of EAC integration.
The JAMAFEST 2017, will run under the theme; “ Culture and creative industries: An Engine for unity and Employment Creation”. A theme Song has been composed and will be played throughout the festival period as part of the publicity campaign of creating awareness of the role of arts and culture in regional integration.
The main venue of the festival will be Kololo Ceremonial Grounds where the main stage for cultural performances, the exhibition and market place will be located. The official opening and closing ceremonies will also be held at the same venue. The subsidiary venues include Uganda National Cultural centre where specialized shows including film festival, comedy and drama will be conducted. Hotel Africana will host the Symposium, fashion show and the closing Dinner gala.
Speaking ahead of the festival, the EAC Deputy Secretary General in charge of Productive and Social Sector, Hon. Christophe Bazivamo disclosed that the 2017 Festival will also host a Carnival which will run through different selected parts of Kampala City.
He said festival events will run for seven days and will include a Carnival, live musical performances, theatre/comedy, arts and craft exhibitions, literary works, film shows, poetry, storytelling, acrobatics, workshop/symposium, culinary art, fashion show and children theatre. The Festival will also have a Cultural Market place which is specifically designed to provide opportunities to Festival Participants for selling and buying of cultural products and cultural business networking, added Hon. Bazivamo.
The festival is expected to bring cultural communities within the region together, foster social cultural interaction and promote peace and harmony among the people of East Africa and enable people move across borders to share experiences and ideas thus creating long-lasting connections.
In addition, Jamafest is envisaged to help to develop a new audiences for the region and promote Cultural tourism in the EAC as well as generate income and jobs while promoting social inclusion, cultural diversity and human development.
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Notes to Editor:
The Jumuiya ya Afrika Mashariki Utamaduni Festival (JAMAFEST), is a regional Arts and Culture Festival held in the East African Community Partner States on a rotational basis. The Festival is a result of the 23rd Council of the Ministers directive to the Secretariat to organize and hold regional Arts and Culture Festivals and Sports Tournaments as one of the strategies for fostering socio cohesion among East Africans.
Two successful editions of Jamafest have been held so far. The 1st Edition was held in February, 2013 in Kigali, Rwanda under the theme : “Fostering the East African Community Integration through Cultural Industries”. The 2nd edition of the Festival was hosted by the Republic of Kenya at the at Kenyatta International convention Centre (KICC) in Nairobi, Kenya in August 2015 under the theme “Unleashing the Economic Potential of Cultural and Creative industries in the EAC”.
For more information, please contact:
Mr Owora Richard Othieno Head, Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Department EAC Secretariat Arusha, Tanzania Tel: +255 784 835021 Email: OOthieno [at] eachq.org
About the East African Community Secretariat:
The East African Community (EAC) is a regional intergovernmental organisation of five Partner States, comprising Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, with its headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania.
East African Kiswahili Commission; Zanzibar, Tanzania; 14 July 2017:
The East African Kiswahili Commission (EAKC) has been commended for actively contributing towards the East African Community (EAC) efforts of regional integration and sustainable development.
Addressing an EAKC Expert Strategic Plan (2017-2022) Translation Quality Control Workshop held at the EAC Secretariat in Arusha on 12th-14th July, 2017, the EAC Deputy Secretary General responsible for Political Federation, Mr. Charles Njoroge, underscored the importance of Kiswahili as a strategic communication tool necessary for deepening regional integration and sustainable development.
Mr. Njoroge noted that as a common language of wider communication, Kiswahili is crucial for empowerment and necessary for active participation of citizens in EAC affairs. He further observed that EAC Partner States are doing a lot in the development and use of Kiswahili and urged the Commission to work closely with all stakeholders to complement those efforts.
Mr. Njoroge lauded the EAKC for developing its first Strategic Plan and translating it into Kiswahili. He reminded the Workshop that strategic planning has high impact on overall institutional success and the development of an EACK Strategic Plan for the next five years is an important step in executing its mandate. He urged the Commission to translate its long-term strategic goals into initiatives that will benefit the citizens of East Africa and ensure that the two versions of the EAKC Strategic Plan are widely circulated to all stakeholders in the Community and beyond.
The Workshop was attended by representative translation experts from institutions that use Kiswahili who engaged in the exercise of ensuring that the translated EAKC Strategic Plan is done in a manner that is both easily understandable and accurate for the varied Kiswahili users in the EAC.
The translation experts’ responsibility is to ensure that meaning conveyed and communicated is not lost from what was intended by stakeholders and approved by the Council of Ministers. Therefore controlling the quality of the translated Strategic Plan is crucial in ensuring its message is effectively passed onto stakeholders, especially those at the grassroots whose language of communication is Kiswahili.
In his remarks, the Executive Secretary, Prof. Kenneth Simala, informed the Workshop that the Commission developed its Strategic Plan through an inclusive and consultative approach that gave careful thought to activities and responsibilities of Kiswahili stakeholders and how they fit into the larger picture of EAC regional integration and sustainable development agenda.
The translation of the Strategic Plan from English into Kiswahili is part of the transition from planning to implementation and is as important to the Commission as the planned outcomes.
The Executive Secretary reiterated the Commission’s determination to ensure proper and timely implementation of directives adopted by the Council of Ministers regarding the harmonization and coordination of the development and use of Kiswahili in EAC Partner States. Acknowledging support extended to the Commission by Partner States and stakeholders, the Executive Secretary promised to continue providing relevant policy advice and necessary strategic recommendations for the development and use of Kiswahili in the Community.
The East African Kiswahili Commission (EACK) is an institution of the East African Community based in Zanzibar, The United Republic of Tanzania. The Commission started its operations in May, 2015 and has developed the Annual Operations Plan for 2016-2017. The Commission’s vision is to be the leading body in the promotion and coordination of the development and usage of Kiswahili for regional integration and sustainable development.
East African Court of Justice; Arusha, Tanzania; 07 July 2017:
The First Instance Division declined to grant orders sought by one Castro Pius from the United Republic of Tanzania, to stop the Partner States which have not signed the European Partnership Agreement (EPA) not to sign the same and those who have signed it from carrying out any further procedures and processes. The EAC Member States which have not signed include the Republics of Burundi (1st Respondent), South Sudan (4th Respondent) and the United Republic of Tanzania (5th Respondent) and the Republic of Uganda (6th Respondent), those that have signed are the Republics of Kenya (2nd Respondent) and Rwanda (3rd Respondent).
The Court in its Ruling said that the Applicant has failed to establish an irreparable injury that he would suffer that could not be compensated by an award of damages if the injunctive order sought is not granted. This was after he argued in his application, that he allegedly stands to suffer irreparable economic loss and serious violation of his rights under the Treaty, if the Partner States sign the EPA. It was also in the Applicant’s further contention, that the way some Partner States had acted individually in signing the EPA was harmful to the Community and to the East African economy.
In addition the Court when pressed the Applicant to expound on the irreparable economic loss and the violation of rights that he stood to suffer, he was unable to make the link between the impugned signing of the EPA and the alleged irreparable harm that the said signing would cause.
Furthermore, the Court stated that in view of the decision of the 18th Summit of Heads of States held in Dar-es-Salaam on 20th May 2017 stating that the remaining Partner States that had not signed the EPA were not in a position to do so pending clarification of the issues they had identified in the Agreement. That it appears that there is no harm to the Applicant if the injunctive order sought is not granted.
The Court went ahead and said that the Applicant failed to clarify the alleged procedures and processes had to be restrained in regard to Partner States which had already signed the Agreement that is Rwanda and Kenya, Kenya having even ratified it.
The Court also added that as far as the status of the EPA process is concerned, negotiations on the Agreement were concluded in October 2014 and the same was initialled by all EAC Partner States at the time and thereafter, the signing of the EPA was considered by the Sectoral Council on Trade, Industry, Finance and Investment, which directed the Secretary General of the Community (the 7th respondent) to liaise with the EU in order to organize the signing ceremony of the EPA.
The Court further declined to grant the order sought by the Applicant, directing the Secretary General (7th Respondent) to withdraw forthwith from any negotiations initiated with the EU in view of the 17th Extra-ordinary Summit decision aforesaid until a final decision on the Reference is delivered. The Court said that, the EPA negotiations were concluded in October 2014 and therefore, such an order cannot be granted as the negotiation phase is now closed.
Present in Court to receive the Ruling were the Representatives of the 2nd Respondent (Kenya) represented by Ms. Jenifer Gitiri, Senior State Counsel and Maurice Ogosso, State Counsel, the 5th Respondent (Tanzania) was represented by Ms Aidah Kisumo, Senior State Attorney, the 6th Respondent (Uganda), represented by Elisha Bafirawara and the 7th Respondent Secretary General represented by Stephen Agaba. The representatives of the 1st Respondent (Burundi), the 3rd Respondent (Rwanda), and the 4th Respondent (South Sudan), were not present in Court.
The Ruling of the Court was read by Hon. Justice Faustin Ntezilyayo, of the First Instance Division in open Court.
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For more information, please contact:
Yufnalis Okubo, Registrar, East African Court of Justice. Tel: 255-27-2162149 Email Okubo [at] eachq.org Arusha, Tanzania http://www.eacj.org
About the East African Court of Justice:
The East African Court of Justice (EACJ or ‘the Court’), is one of the organs of the East African Community established under Article 9 of the Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community. Established in November 2001, the Court’s major responsibility is to ensure the adherence to law in the interpretation and application of and compliance with the EAC Treaty.
Arusha is the temporary seat of the Court until the Summit determines its permanent seat. The Court’s sub-registries are located in the respective National Courts in the Partner States.
East African Community Secretariat; Arusha, Tanzania; 06 July 2017:
The 14th Meeting of the Sectoral Council on Transport, Communications and Meteorology (TCM) was held in Mombasa, Kenya from 26th – 30th June 2017 to consider the status of implementation of projects and programmes in the roads, railways, civil aviation and airports, maritime, meteorology and communications sectors.
Also in the agenda was the consideration of preparations for the 4th Retreat of the EAC Heads of State on Infrastructure Development, implementation progress of studies, engineering designs and construction of multinational roads linking Partner States, status of One Stop Border Posts (OSBP), development of standard gauge railway (SGR) and improvement of the projects at the ports of Dar es Salaam, Mombasa and new port of Lamu.
In the civil aviation sector, the meeting considered the progress towards liberalization of air transport within the EAC and approved a framework for seamless upper air traffic control in the Community.
The Sectoral Council directed Partner States to complete the ratification of the EAC Protocol on Cooperation in Meteorology Services and also to migrate from mercury-based weather observation systems, in line with the Minamata Convention. Noting that the delay by Burundi and Tanzania to implement the EAC Roaming Framework was denying East Africans the benefits of affordable communication services.
Addressing the meeting during the official opening of the ministerial session, the Minister of State for Transport, Republic of Uganda and Chairperson of the Sectoral Council on Transport, Communications and Meteorology (TCM) Hon. Aggrey Henry Bagiire, pointed out the critical role that infrastructure plays in the development of Partner States. He recognized various infrastructure development initiatives that are being implemented across the region, including the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) development projects and acknowledged the commitment of Heads of States in infrastructure development.
Hon. Bagiire called for Partner States to put more efforts on among others, harmonization of policies, laws and regulation in supporting the coordination work of the Secretariat to sustain the pace of infrastructure development in the region.
On preparations for the 4th Heads of States Retreat, the Minister requested the Secretariat to promptly and properly involve the Ministers/Cabinet Secretaries.
In attendance were Ministers/Cabinet Secretary; Permanent/Principal Secretaries; and delegates from Partner States, EAC Organs and Institutions, and cooperating organizations.
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For more information, please contact:
Mr Owora Richard Othieno Head, Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Department EAC Secretariat Arusha, Tanzania Tel: +255 784 835021 Email: OOthieno [at] eachq.org
About the East African Community Secretariat:
The East African Community (EAC) is a regional intergovernmental organisation of five Partner States, comprising Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, with its headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania.
East African Community Secretariat; Arusha, Tanzania; 05 July 2017:
The Secretary General of the East African Community, Amb. Liberat Mfumukeko held a consultative meeting with the leadership of the International Conference on the Great Lakes (ICGLR) Secretariat in Bujumbura, Burundi on Tuesday 4th July 2017.
The consultations co-chaired by the ICGLR Deputy Executive Secretary, Amb. Vincente Muanda was a follow up to a bilateral meeting held in March 2017 which revisited the Memorandum of Understanding concluded by the two sides on 1st December 2010, with a view to re-energizing its implementation.
The meeting, attended by Directors at the ICGLR and the EAC alternate focal person on implementation of the MoU, Mr. Leonard Onyonyi, reviewed the plan of action developed after the March meeting and underscored the need for enhancement of the pace of implementation.
The meeting identified the following activities as critical to the partnership and complementarity between the two parties.
Democracy and Good Governance
Fielding of joint Election Observer Missions in Kenya and Rwanda,
Twinning of the Nyerere Centre for Peace Research with The Levy Mwanawasa Centre, and
Cooperation and information sharing on enforcement of certification mechanism in the area of natural resources.
Peace and Security
Harmonization of Counter Terrorism Strategies,
Joint efforts towards promotion of human rights in Burundi,
Collective approach towards assessment of security situations in Burundi and South Sudan
Economic Development and Regional Integration-sharing of information on progress towards conclusion of a wider Eastern and Southern Africa Free Trade Area and other integration initiatives
Cross cutting issues that include Gender, Women and Children.
The meeting agreed on a close follow up mechanism that will ensure regular evaluation after very three months.
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For more information, please contact:
Mr Owora Richard Othieno Head, Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Department EAC Secretariat Arusha, Tanzania Tel: +255 784 835021 Email: OOthieno [at] eachq.org
About the East African Community Secretariat:
The East African Community (EAC) is a regional intergovernmental organisation of five Partner States, comprising Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, with its headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania.
