AfricaPress-Tanzania: THE Secretary General of the East African Community (EAC), Mr Peter Mathuki, has concluded his first phase of visits to the EAC Institutions in the republics of Rwanda and Uganda.
The visits, which started on May 7, covered the East African Science and Technology Commission (EASTECO) in Kigali, Rwanda, the Inter University Council of East Africa (IUCEA) in Kampala and the Civil Aviation Safety and Security Oversight Agency (CASSOA) in Entebbe, Uganda.
The purpose of the visits was to familiarize himself with the institutions and understand their contribution to the integration process and the challenges they face in discharging of their mandates.
The second phase of the visit will cover the East African Health Research Commission (EAHRC) based in Bujumbura, Burundi, Lake Victoria Basin Commission (LVBC) headquarters in Kisumu, Kenya, The East African Kiswahili Commission (EAKC) based in Zanzibar and Lake Victoria Fisheries Organization in Jinja, Uganda.
While at EASTECO, the EAC boss called on the commission to invest more on innovation and creativity in their programmes that bring the vision of a fully integrated and developed EAC closer to reality.
At IUCEA, the Secretary General met the Executive Secretary, Prof Gaspard Banyankimbona, and got briefs on the key achievements and challenges of the Institution. Dr Mathuki concluded his tour by visiting the CASSOA headquarters.
The Executive Director, Mr Emile Nguza Arao, briefed the Secretary General on the institution’s status and disclosed to him that CASSOA was voted by International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as the second-best safety and security agency in the world out of 17 organizations among other milestones.
The Secretary General urged all EAC institutions to uphold teamwork and ensure that they live-up to the expectations of the people in bringing solutions in their respective areas.
He also emphasized to all institutions on the need to focus on implementing their priorities as set out in the EAC’s 6th Development Strategy.
