Speed up Somalia’s admission to EAC, says President Mohamud
EAC Secretary-General Peter Mathuki (left) presents a copy of the Treaty for the Establishment of the EAC to Somalia President Hassan Mohamud in Mogadishu. Mr Mohamud wants the EAC secretariat to speed up the consideration of his country’s application to join the regional bloc. PHOTO | COURTESY | EAC
Somalia President Hassan Sheik Mohamud wants the East African Community (EAC) secretariat to speed up the consideration of his country’s application to join the regional bloc.
The president said Somalia’s wait to join the community has been a delayed dream for the people and his government and urged the EAC Secretary-General Peter Mathuki, who is on a visit to Mogadishu, to expedite the process of admission so that his country can be the 8th member of the EAC.
“Somalia belongs to the EAC. There is no country among the EAC Partners states that is not linked by business with Somalia and existing historical linkages include language and culture,” said President Mohamud.
“We are counting on you secretary-general to send the verification team here in Mogadishu to start the process,” he added.
President Mohamud said his country was working tirelessly to remove all security challenges with the support of some of the EAC member states.
He said Somalia’s strategic position would benefit the regional bloc significantly through increased movement of goods, services and people across the bloc, in addition to expanding intra-regional trade with the already established Somali businesses in the region.
President Mohamud said that Somalia's long Indian Ocean-Red Sea route that links Africa to the Arabian Peninsula is a vibrant economic zone, adding that the exploitation of Somalia’s blue economy resources such as fish and the expansive coastline would boost the regional economy.
Dr Mathuki assured the Somali president that the EAC secretariat would do its part to make sure the admission process is expedited in accordance with the EAC procedure for admission of new members to the community.
The EAC secretary-general told the president that after his maiden visit, the EAC Secretariat would write to partner states to request nominations for members to constitute the EAC verification team.
"The EAC wishes to assure you of our total commitment in leading the process of admission of Somalia into the community as directed by the Summit," said Dr Mathuki.
