President Felix Tshishekedi of the DR Congo will on Thursday launch the verification mission for his country's bid to join the East African Community (EAC).
This was announced earlier this week by the six-nation bloc's Secretariat.
The verification team which was appointed by the EAC Council of Ministers earlier this month will be in DR Congo for 10 days to assess the vast country’s suitability to be admitted into the Community.
As noted, Tshishekedi will launch the verification mission to the country in the eastern Congolese town of Goma.
A high-level verification mission comprising EAC Secretary-General, Peter Mathuki, and officials from EAC Organs and Partner States' Ministries of
EAC will witness the launch.
The verification team comprises three experts from each Partner State to be funded by the EAC Secretariat and an additional maximum of two experts to be funded by the nominating Partner State to carry out the verification mission from June 23 to July 3.
The EAC Summit on February 27 considered the application by DR Congo to join the Community and directed the Council to expeditiously undertake a verification mission in accordance with the EAC procedure for admission of new members into the bloc and report to the next Summit.
The Sectoral Council, which was chaired by Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for EAC and Regional Development further directed the Secretariat to submit the report of the verification mission to the Council of Ministers by November.
DR Congo’s eastern region has interacted with East Africa through trade and commerce in addition to utilising the Dar es Salaam and Mombasa ports for its export and import business.
"Intra-EAC trade has increased among the EAC Partner States in the past 10 years. And we have no choice. That is why we are widening to include the DR
Congo to become the seventh member of the EAC,” Mathuki said in a tweet.
The DR Congo shares a border with five of the six EAC Partner States: Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, and South Sudan.
Accompanying Mathuki on the trip to Goma will be the Judge President of the East African Court of Justice, Justice Nestor Kayobera, East African Legislative Assembly MP Abdullah Makame, and Dr. Kevit Desai, Kenya’s Principal Secretary for EAC.
More officials from the Partner States are expected to join the team that will travel by road to Goma from Kigali for the launch ceremony.
The verification team will, among other things, review the current status of the DR Congo in international law and establish the country’s level of conformity with the criteria for admission of foreign countries as provided in the EAC Treaty.
Under the Treaty, the criteria for the admission of new countries into the Community include: acceptance of the Community as set out in the Treaty; adherence to universally acceptable principles of good governance, democracy, the rule of law, observance of human rights and social justice; potential contribution to the strengthening of integration within the East African region, and; geographical proximity to and inter-dependence between it (the foreign country) and the EAC Partner States.
The other criteria for admission of a new member are: establishment and maintenance of a market-driven economy; and; social and economic policies being compatible with those of the Community.