Posted in Press Release
East African Community Secretariat, Arusha, Tanzania, 15th June, 2018:The Minister to the Office of the President responsible for East African Community Affairs in Burundi, Hon. Isabelle Ndahayo, has emphasized the need to involve all stakeholders including the ordinary people in the EAC integration process.
Hon. Ndahayo said that it was by making the integration process inclusive that stakeholders and citizens who are also the taxpayers would own the process and support it.
The Minister noted that the Treaty for the Establishment of the EAC was clear that the integration process should be people-driven with the private sector as the engine of economic growth.
Hon. Ndahayo said that inclusivity involved engaging stakeholders as much as possible in the formulation and implementation of policies on integration.
The Minister restated the commitment of the Government of Burundi to involve the private sector, civil society organisations and other interest groups in the integration process by establishing a National Dialogue Committee in accordance with the directive of the EAC Council of Ministers.
The Minister particularly singled out the role of the media whom she said were at the frontline in educating EAC citizens on the integration.
Hon. Ndahayo said that with the East African integration progressing at a steady pace, the role of the media would become critical in promoting socio-economic transformation in the region in addition to eliciting the full participation of the citizenry in the process.
The Minister made the remarks in a speech read on her behalf by her assistant, Ms. Clarette Inamahoro, at the opening session of the inaugural EAC Secretary General’s Media Forum held in Bujumbura. The forum drew participation from journalists in Burundi and other EAC Partner States as well representatives of civil society, the private sector and government of Burundi.
Hon. Ndahayo said that journalists should be able to act as catalysts in bridging the information and awareness gap between the EAC and the citizens while leveraging in addition to educating them on the status and achievements of the integration.
Addressing the forum, EAC Secretary General Amb. Liberat Mfumukeko said that one of the critical challenges facing the Community was lack of awareness on the integration process.
Amb. Mfumukeko said that the EAC had made significant achievements including increased trade volumes, infrastructure development, water supply and sanitation, and harmonization of education systems and curricula yet most East Africans could not link these achievements to the Community.
In his remarks, the Registrar of the East African Court of Justice, His Worship Yufnalis Okubo, said the Court had played a crucial role in dispensing justice to aggrieved East Africans with regard to matters touching on the violation of the provisions of the EAC Treaty.
Mr. Okubo noted that most of the cases that had been handled by the Court revolved around the violation of Article 6(d) of the Treaty which demands of Partner States to adhere to the universally acceptable principles of good governance, the rule of law, observance of human rights and social justice.
The Registar cited the case of the Republic of South Sudan whose election of MPs to the East African Legislative Assembly was nullified by the Court after a citizen successfully sued the government for breach of the election rules as specified by the Treaty. The South Sudan National Legislative Assembly subsequently conducted an election of the country’s nine EALA MPs in accordance with the provisions of the Treaty.
On his part, the Deputy Executive Secretary of the East African Science and Technology Commission, Dr. Saidi Kibeya, said that the region would not achieve the goals it had set for itself in increasing trade and socio-economic growth if it didn’t promote Science, Technology and Innovations.
Dr. Kibeya said that it was incumbent upon governments, academic and research institutions to work with the private sector to transform innovations into products and services that could be competitive on the international market.
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For more information, please contact:
Mr Owora Richard Othieno
Head, Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Department
EAC Secretariat
Arusha, Tanzania
Tel: +255 784 835021
Email: OOthieno [at] eachq.org
About the East African Community Secretariat:
The East African Community (EAC) is a regional intergovernmental organisation of five Partner States, comprising Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, with its headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania.
The EAC Secretariat is ISO 9001:2008 Certified
Posted in Press Release
East African Community Secretariat, Arusha, Tanzania, 14th June, 2018: East African Community Secretary General Amb. Liberat Mfumukeko has underscored the role of Science, Technology and Innovations (STI) in transforming East Africa countries from largely agro-based economies into competitive industrialized ones.
Amb. Mfumukeko said that the six EAC Partner States have great capacity to create wealth for their citizens by harnessing STI to attain industrial development.
Amb. Mfumukeko said it was worrying that the region was at the moment consuming goods that were manufactured elsewhere, adding that by doing this it was exporting jobs and revenues that would ordinarily have benefited EAC citizens.
The Secretary General further noted that innovators in the region have little or no assistance from governments and other stakeholders in STI to transform their ideas into products and services.
He said that to address these and other challenges to industrialization in East Africa, the EAC had put in place the East African Science and Technology Commission (EASTECO), an institution of the EAC that would push for the promotion of STI throughout the region.
Amb. Mfumukeko said that it was by promoting a culture of innovations that the region would be able to make its industrial and service sectors more productive and competitive.
The SG was speaking when he toured the EASTECO Headquarters in Kigali, Rwanda.
The SG disclosed that more than 50 per cent of the EAC population consisted of well-educated youth in need of jobs, adding that the Community would therefore work with all stakeholders to promote innovations and singled out the private sector that he described as the main creator of employment in the world today.
In her remarks, the Executive Secretary of EASTECO, Ms. Gertrude Ngabirano, said it was unfortunate that East Africa was still exporting raw materials to industrialized nations and in turn importing goods manufactured from the same raw material at prices 10 times higher than the value of its exports.
Ms. Ngabirano said the onus was on the region to reverse this trend by using technology to produce more and add value to its raw materials.
The ES said that countries that had the capacity to innovate were the only ones with greater potential to grow their economies. She said EAC countries could harness synergies in STI with each specializing in different sectors.
Also present at the function was the Deputy Executive Secretary of EASTECO, Dr. Saidi Kibeya.
Amb. Mfumukeko later toured the Lake Victoria Water and Sanitation (LVWATSAN) projects in Nyanza district, 90km south of Kigali.
Five EAC Partner States namely Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania received US$25 million each through to implement water supply and sanitation projects.
Among the projects the SG toured were the LVWATSAN water intake and supply projects that provide clean drinking water to the 48,000 residents of Nyanza town and its environs.
The local residents said the project had transformed the lives and spurred economic activity in the town.
Accompanying the SG on the tour were Governor of Rwanda’s Southern Province Governor, Ms. Marie Rose Mureshyankwano, the Mayor of Nyanza District, Hon. Ntazinda Erasme, and Ms. Gisele Umuhumuza, the Deputy CEO (Water and Sanitation Services) at the Nyanza Water and Sanitation Company.
NOTES TO EDITORS:
The East African Science and Technology (EASTECO) is an institution of the EAC whose mandate is to promote cooperation in the development of science and technology within the Community. EASTECO’s specific objectives include among other things: Regional Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) policy formulation; Joint development and application of science and technology, and; promotion of regiona research centres of excellence.
Lake Victoria Water Supply and Sanitation (LVWATSAN II) Project is a programme of the EAC, coordinated by the Lake Victoria Basin Commission (LVBC) and implemented in 15 towns within five Partner States of the Community. The African Development Bank (AfDB) and the EAC Partner States are the financiers of the programme.
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For more information, please contact:
Mr Owora Richard Othieno
Head, Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Department
EAC Secretariat
Arusha, Tanzania
Tel: +255 784 835021
Email: OOthieno [at] eachq.org
About the East African Community Secretariat:
The East African Community (EAC) is a regional intergovernmental organisation of five Partner States, comprising Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, with its headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania.
The EAC Secretariat is ISO 9001:2008 Certified
