Africa-Press – Kenya. Dr Peter Mathuki, the secretary general, said at a press conference here yesterday that a secretariat team of experts had already visited Somalia and sat with senior government officials to examine the country’s readiness to join.
“After the meeting, they will prepare their report to be submitted to the EAC council of ministers that expects to meet on February 23,” he said, noting that the report will be submitted to the summit expected on February 25 for scrutiny and decisions.
The team comprising members from the seven EAC partner states yesterday began to examine Somalia’s readiness to join the bloc, he said, noting that its observations will then be put to the council of ministers and eventually to the summit
He similarly addressed fears among observers as to eligibility of Somalia to join, underlining that bringing the country on board will increase economic opportunities.
Youth in the member states will be assured of more job openings when trade between EAC member states is boosted, he said, while affirming that security challenges there, as in some EAC states, would be easier to address once these countries join the trading bloc.
Well intentioned Heads of State will address the challenges with greater ease within the bloc and not outside it, “hence we should not harbour any fears,” he declared.
Somalia President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said at the EAC summit here last year that the country wants to join the EAC to “reap opportunities,” noting that the EAC was a model that every African country wishes to join.
Somalia has experts offering services in various countries and they needed greater cooperation to develop the country’s economy, he stated, asserting that chances for peace in Somalia were higher with EAC Heads of State making efforts to make sure peace is restored.
Somalia started expressing the wish to join the bloc back in 2012, without a formal decision at any level to back such an application, until the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was admitted in 2021.
DRC has greater economic opportunities for EAC member states compared to Somalia, and it has fewer security challenges by comparison, while South Sudan has internal unrest and partial stability that was buttressed by joining the EAC, observers affirm.
Earlier communication between the EAC Secretariat and Somalia in November 2018 did not change the mood among EAC states, especially as the previous government led by Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed better known as Farmajo, initiated a case against Kenya at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) seeking to project their land border into sea territory, contrary to the norm in international law. The court fluffed the case, asserting that the norm did not necessarily apply to the particular border dispute, while Kenya rejected the ruling.
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