EAC Council of Ministers gets underway

ARUSHA: THE 44th Ordinary Meeting of the East African Community (EAC) Council of Ministers is currently underway at the EAC Headquarters in Arusha.

The five-day meeting, which began on Saturday, is being conducted through the session of senior officials that ended yesterday, the session of the coordination committee set for today and the ministerial session that will take place tomorrow.

Among the items on the agenda of the meeting are considerations of various reports, including those on the implementation of previous decisions of the Council; the Office of the Secretary General; sustainable financing of the community; hosting of EAC organs and institutions; and customs, trade, and monetary affairs.

Other matters to be considered are reports on infrastructure, productive, social and political sectors; finance matters; human political matters; customs and trade; and finance and human resources matters.

Also, on the agenda of the Council are reports of other EAC organs, namely the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) and East African Court of Justice (EACJ), as well as reports of EAC institutions.

The Council is also expected to consider the draft EAC Calendar of Activities for the period October 2023 to June 2024.

The Council of Ministers is the policy-making organ of the community. It consists of the ministers responsible for EAC Affairs and Regional Cooperation of each partner state, as well as other ministers of the partner state as determined by each partner state.

Among its functions, the Council promotes, monitors, and keeps under constant review the implementation of the programmes of the community and ensures the proper functioning of the regional bloc.

Speaking during the opening of the session of senior officials, the EAC Deputy Secretary General in charge of Infrastructure, Productive, Social, and Political Sectors, Andrea Ariik Malueth, commended all partner states for preparing to attend the COP 28 Negotiations in Dubai, United Arab Emirates and articulating one EAC position.

Mr Ariik informed the senior officials that since the last Council meeting in Bujumbura, Burundi, in March 2023, a number of developments have unfolded, including consultations on the EAC Political Confederation Constitution in the Republic of Kenya and the long-awaited negotiations with the Federal Republic of Somalia for its admission into the EAC.

“I am certain that you will have an opportunity to appreciate these developments and more in detail during the course of this meeting,” said the Deputy Secretary General.

He further reaffirmed the EAC Secretariat’s commitment to working with Partner States and Development Partners to coordinate the integration agenda, adding that the implementation of the integration agenda requires a regular flow of remittances.

“I thank all Partner States for the remittances received so far and urge them to sustain the momentum,” he added.

The 44th Council of Ministers will be followed by the High-Level Forum on Climate Change, Food Security, and Environmental Sustainability and the 23rd Ordinary Summit of the EAC Heads of State, which will be held on Thursday and Friday this week.

Also present at the session were the Chairperson of the meeting, Mr Jean Pierre Bacanamwo from Burundi, the Rapporteur, Mr Maker Mabor from the Republic of South Sudan, and the EAC Deputy Secretary General in charge of Customs, Trade, and Monetary Affairs, Ms Annette Ssemuwemba.