Another United States is in the making, this time it will be made up of countries in the Eastern and horn of Africa and soon coming near you.
During their Heads of State Summit which has just been concluded in Arusha, Presidents of the eight member countries forming the East African Community directed the Republics of Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, DR Congo and Somalia to conclude national consultations on the EAC political Federation by the last day of June 2025.
It was stated that so far Burundi, Kenya and Uganda have already accomplished their respective National Consultations to that effect.
The Heads of State also directed the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Federal Republic of Somalia, the newest members of the East African Community, to submit the names of their constitutional experts to the EAC Secretariat in Arusha by 31st January 2025.
In their joint Communiqué, released from Arusha, the eight Presidents directed the EAC Council of Ministers to make recommendations on the use of variable geometry in the political integration of the community, which should be tabled for consideration during the forthcoming 25th ordinary summit in November 2025.
The aim is to fasttrack the East African Community’s Political Federation which so far has a capital of eight countries, over 300 million people and 5.4 Million square kilometers of joint real estate of land between the eight states.
The East African Community Heads of State, who attended their 24th Ordinary Summit meeting in Arusha and signed the Communiqué, include Salva Kiir Mayardit, of South Sudan; Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, of Uganda; Paul Kagame, from Rwanda, Samia Suluhu Hassan of Tanzania; Félix Tshisekedi Tshilombo, of DR Congo; Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, of Somalia; William Samoei Ruto, of kenya, and the Vice President of Burundi, Prosper Bazombanza, representing President Evariste Ndayishimiye.
And to pave the way for smooth transition into political federation the Heads of State directed the council of Ministers to prioritize elimination of barriers to trade, removal of restrictions on movement of persons and services to foster trade integration.
The EAC Ministers were directed to adopt inclusive digital policies and payment solutions to enhance trade; security, youth and women Empowerment in production and cross border trade; and ordered the council to convene a dedicated meeting with EAC organs and institutions, partner states, private sectors and their governing associations to address the issue matter, then generate a joint action plan before April 2025.
The Arusha Summit decided that the Republic of Kenya would be the Chairperson of the Community, while the Federal Republic of Somalia will be the Rapporteur for the tenure of one year until November 2025.
The Presidents directed the Attorneys General and Ministers of Justice to conclude the proposal to amend rule 11 of the rules of procedure of the Summit on Quorum and advise the Heads of State Summit during the next 25th meeting.
During the just ended summit meeting, the Heads of State took note of the progress report on the economic partnership agreement between East African Community and the European Union and directed the council to report progress to the 25th meeting of the summit.
The new Chairperson of EAC, President William Ruto had pointed out that the European Union market potential was valued at 13 Trillion Euros and the East African Countries can easily tap into that to boost their national economies.
The summit received the report of the retreat of ministers responsible for foreign affairs and East African Community affairs and directed the council to work with the partner states to develop regional guidelines for multi-dimensional peace support operations to guide future regional peace support operations.