Kenya has proposed Caroline Mwende Mueke as the Secretary General of the East Africa Community (EAC) to replace Peter Mathuki who has been appointed as Kenyan Ambassador to Russia.

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This is according to the Presidential nomination and appointments to foreign service statement by Kenya’s President William Ruto, released on March 8.

According to EAC protocol, the eligible head of State nominates a candidate who is then approved by the Summit of Heads of State. The position is usually rotational among member states and the occupants serve for five years.

Mueke is proposed to serve the remaining two years of service at the EAC, following Mathuki’s three-year tenure at the regional bloc’s secretariat. She has to be approved by the heads of State at a summit meeting.

Mueke is a public policy expert who has worked in various agencies and missions of the United Nations, including UNESCO, UNDP and the United Nations Peacekeeping Mission in South Sudan.

Before joining the EAC, the outgoing Mathuki was a long-term Executive Director of the East African Business Council, the body that includes private-sector associations in the member states of the EAC.

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Mathuki was last in Rwanda on February 22, accompanying the EAC Chairperson, President Salva Kiir of South Sudan on a working visit where they held discussions with President Paul Kagame.