As Chairperson of the East African Community Heads of State summit, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta announced Tuesday, March 29, that DR Congo would be admitted to the bloc, making it the seventh member state.
This was when the EAC Heads of State met for the 19th Extraordinary Summit of the EAC heads of state. The summit took place virtually with all countries, except Burundi, South Sudan, represented at the President Felix Tshisekedi.
“Admitting the DRC into the East African Community is historic for our community and the African continent at large,” Uhuru said.
The Summit was preceded on March 25 by the 48th extraordinary meeting of the EAC Council of Ministers. It was held earlier to review the provisional agenda of EAC Summit on admission of DR Congo.
Nearly three decades after making a formal submission, DR Congo was officially admitted to the Community in June 2019.
Soon after Uhuru’s opening remarks, EAC Secretary General, Peter Mathuki, was given the floor and he also said that “today marks a momentous” moment.
The process of DR Congo’s entry started when Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi on June 8, 2019, wrote to then EAC Chairperson, President Paul Kagame, expressing his country’s wish to be a member of the bloc.
Regional leaders on February 27, 2021, considered the application by DR Congo to join the Community and directed Ministers to expeditiously undertake a verification mission in accordance with the EAC procedure for admission of new members.
When, on January 17, 2022, negotiations paving way for the vast country’s admission were launched in Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, Kinshasa reaffirmed its willingness to be part of the bloc.
During the January launch in Nairobi, DR Congo’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Christophe Lutundula Apala Pen’Apala, said his country was looking forward to increased trade and investment, and strengthened relations with the EAC.
The Council of Ministers received the report of negotiations just weeks later. The leaders are likely to usher in in country’s accession phase which literally concludes the admission process.
The private sector has urged Heads of State to direct relevant government bodies to fast track the admission of the DR Congo.
By becoming the seventh member, DR Congo is expected to bolster the bloc’s economic potential in various ways including opening the corridor from the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean, hence expanding the economic potential of the region.
The admission process for DR Congo, as well as any other new member, required four stages. The first was a verification exercise. Next, Summit led negotiations with the country for its admission to EAC. In the middle of last, a verification team was deployed to the nation. It submitted its report to Council of Ministers December 2021.
Within six months of the country’s admission, the final deposition of the instrument accepting the terms of admission will take place.
Mathuki explained that French has become an official EAC language and that the Secretariat had developed a proposal to have simultaneous translations of Kiswahili, French, and English at EAC statutory meetings. This proposal is due for consideration by next Council.
jkaruhanga@newtimesrwanda.com
Source: rnewtimes
