EAC 10th ordinary summit for next week

Heads of State of the East African Community (EAC) are set to hold the 10th Ordinary Summit on 29 April, 2009 in the Tanzanian town of Arusha. According to a statement from the EAC secretariat, President Paul Kagame of Rwanda and current Chairperson of the Summit, President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni of Uganda, President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete of the United Republic of Tanzania, President Pierre Nkurunziza of Burundi and President Mwai Kibaki of Kenya, and will attend the Summit. The Heads of State will mainly consider the report of the Council of Ministers and report of the National Consultations on Fast Tracking the East African Political Federation in the Republics of Rwanda and Burundi. It will also reflect on the progress report on the EAC Common Market Negotiations, EAC position on the proposed African Union Government, swearing in of Justice James Ogoola Munange (Uganda) as Judge of the East African Court of Justice (EACJ) and appointment and swearing in of the new Deputy Secretaries General. “The 20th Extra-Ordinary meeting of the EAC Council of the Ministers will be held from 26-27 April 2009 at the Arusha International Conference Centre (AICC) to prepare for the Summit,” the statement reads in part. Arusha is also the seat for the headquarters of the five-nation regional bloc. The Council of Ministers comprises ministers responsible for East African Community Affairs. Also invited for the Summit and the Council of Ministers’ meeting are Permanent Secretaries and Senior Government Officials responsible for various sectors involved in the East African regional integration. Others will be diplomats as well as the Chief Executives of several regional and international organizations. The statement also notes that the Council is responsible for promoting, monitoring, and constantly reviewing the implementation of EAC programmes and as such it ensures proper functioning of the regional organisation. Meanwhile, a day before the summit, Presidents Kikwete and Kibaki are expected to launch the Arusha-Namanga-Athi River Road Construction Project. “The road development project is part of the EAC Road Network Project Corridor Number 5 running from Tunduma in Tanzania to Moyale in Kenya,” the statement reads. The launch of the project will be witnessed by all the EAC Heads of State and other officials including Amani Abeid Karume of the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar, Dr. Donald Kaberuka, President of the African Development Bank and Madame Sadako Ogata, President of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). Ends