Somalia sending own parliamentarians to join the East African Legislative Assembly in Tanzania

The President of the Federal Republic of Somalia, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, has revealed that Mogadishu was about to send Members of Parliament to the East African Legislative Assembly in Arusha.

Along with that, the Horn of Africa, is currently in the process of dispatching a team of Somalian Judges to take position at the East African Court of Justice, which also operates from the Northern Tanzanian City.

President Mohamud points out that his country was gearing for her integration into the East African Community’s Customs Union and the Common Market. These are the First and second pillars of the EAC integration process.

Somalia is the newest of the eight EAC member states, also comprising of Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, DR Congo and South Sudan.

The Somalian Head of State was speaking during the recently held 23^rd Extra-Ordinary Meeting of the East African Community’s Heads of State that was held virtually.

The Presidential Meeting was headed by Salva Kiir Mayardit, the Chairperson of the Summit and President of South Sudan.

In his remarks, the President of South Sudan Salva Kiir Mayardit, said that the bloc was on the right track noting that intra-regional trade currently stood at 15 percent and expressed hope that it would rise further with the recent admission of the Federal Republic of Somalia into the Community.

The President of Uganda Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, underscored the need to eliminate Non-Tariff Barriers within the community member states as they distort the region’s potential for trade.

Tanzania’s Head of State, Samia Suluhu Hassan, requested the new EAC Secretary General Veronica Nduva to focus on improving the visibility of the community and addressing the lack of shared perception of benefits of integration among East Africans, pointing out that some East Africans were even unsure of the fruits of integration.

Also present at the meeting was the Burundi’s Vice President Prosper Bazombanza who represented President Evariste Ndayishimiye; Kenya’s Prime Cabinet Secretary and Cabinet Secretary for Foreign and Diaspora Affairs, Wycliffe Musalia Mudavadi, who represented President William Samoei Ruto and South Sudan’s Minister of EAC Affairs and Chairperson of the EAC Council of Ministers, Deng Alor Kuo.

Others were the East African Court of Justice (EACJ) Judge President, Justice Nestor Kayobera; Speaker of the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA), Joseph Ntakirutimana; the EAC Deputy Secretary General in charge of Customs, Trade and Monetary Affairs, Annette Mutaawe Ssemuwemba, and the EAC Deputy Secretary General in charge of Infrastructure, Productive, Social and Political Sectors, Andrea Aguer Ariik Malueth.