Dar es Salaam, Tanzania (PANA) – Leaders of the five-nation East African Community (EAC) took Wednesday a decisive step by directing their Council of Ministers to initiate the process of drafting a constitution for the political federation.
According to a communiqué issued at the conclusion of the 12th Extraordinary Summit of the EAC Heads of State, the ministers should start developing a roadmap on what the constitution making process would involve.
The summit further directed the council to make a comprehensive evaluation of performance on the implementation of the protocols on the establishment of the EAC Customs Union, Common Market and Monetary Union and report at the 16th ordinary summit, due to be held in November 2014.
Chaired by Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta at the EAC headquarters in Arusha, northern Tanzania, the summit also received a report on negotiations for the admission of South Sudan into the Community, but Juba has requested for postponement of the process until October to allow time for “national preparations and consultations”.
Hosted by Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, the summit was also attended by Ugandan President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, Burundi’s First Vice President Prosper Bazombaza and Rwanda’s Prime Minister Pierre Damien Habumuremyi.
Before returning to their respective countries, the EAC leaders unveiled a plaque in memory of the victims of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda and expressed their commitment to ensure that such bloodshed and “other crimes against humanity do not recur in the East African region”.
In addition, the EAC leaders have condemned the recent terrorist attacks in the Kenyan cities of Nairobi and Mombasa, reiterating their “unwavering determination to collectively work together to combat terrorism in Eastern Africa and the Great Lakes region”.
The Summit called upon the Council of Ministers to implement the regional counter terrorism strategy as a matter of urgency.
According to the communiqué, the Summit also called upon security agencies and the population at large to intensify efforts aimed at combating terrorism, insurgency and transnational crime with the view to safeguard fundamental rights and freedom of the people of East Africa.
