East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 10th September, 2022:The 5th Edition of the EAC Art and Cultural Festival, dubbed JAMAFEST, came to a close on Friday, 9th September, 2022 at the Intwari Stadium with different cultural performances from Partner States’ cultural troupes.
The seven-day festival attracted more than 2,000 participants from the seven (7) EAC Partner States, which including performing artists, exhibitors, culture professionals/ academicians, students, administrators, civil society organisations, and private sector involved in the art and culture sector activities.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 9th September, 2022: The President of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), H.E President Félix Antoine Tshisekedi has presided over the signing of an agreement giving green light to the deployment of the EAC Joint Regional Force, led by the Armed Forces of the DRC in Eastern DRC, to fight the negative forces.
East African Community (EAC) Secretary General, Hon (Dr.) Peter Mathuki and DRC’s Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hon. Christophe Lutundula Apala Pen’Apala signed the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) at the official residence of the President in Kinshasa, DRC.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 7th September, 2022: The East African Community (EAC) on Wednesday kicked off its maiden mission to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) at a meeting with a high level government delegation in Kinshasa.
The objective of the EAC mission is to enhance the understanding of DRC Government officials on the commitments in the EAC integration pillars and the Community´s governing instruments.
The inaugural meeting between the mission and the DRC team was officially opened to Kinshasa by DRC´s Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, H.E. Christophe Lutundula Apala Pen´Apala.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 6th September, 2022: The President of the Republic of Burundi and the Chairperson of the EAC Summit, H.E Evariste Ndayishimiye officiated the opening ceremony of the 5th Edition of the East African Community (EAC) Arts and Culture Festival (Jumuiya ya Afrika Mashariki Utamaduni Festival - JAMAFEST) at the Intwari Stadium on Monday 5th September, 2022.
The President said the East African Community Arts and Culture Festival, code named “JAMAFEST” creates new channels for community dialogue and nurtures cultural diversity while at the same time creating opportunities and distribution channels for cultural products.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 5th September, 2022: The East African Community (EAC) Deputy Secretary General in charge of Planning and Infrastructure, Eng. Steven Mlote, has reaffirmed the commitment of the EAC Secretariat to infrastructure development aimed at boosting intra-regional trade and free movement of persons across the Community’s seven (7) Partner States.
Eng. Mlote assured a visiting delegation from the Parliament of the United Republic of Tanzania (URT) Parliamentary Committee responsible for Foreign Affairs, Defence and Security of the EAC’s readiness to implement various infrastructure projects coordinated jointly by the Secretariat and Partner States.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 2nd September, 2022: The East African Community (EAC) Secretary General, Hon (Dr.) Peter Mathuki, is set to lead a delegation comprising the Heads of EAC Organs and Institutions and eminent regional business leaders, to the bloc’s newest Partner State, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) from 6th September to 9th September, 2022.
The EAC maiden mission to Kinshasa aims at enhancing awareness among DRC government officials on the existing EAC instruments, create trade synergies, explore and build business partnerships and immediate linkages for business associations.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 1st September, 2022: The East African Community (EAC) Secretary General, Hon. (Dr.) Peter Mathuki, Wednesday met EAC Partner States ambassadors based in Paris, France.
The Ambassadors hailed the Secretary General for the various projects being undertaken by the bloc and the successful holding of the Summit in which the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) participated for the first time as a full Partner State.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 1st September, 2022: Preparations are in high gear for the 5th Edition of the East African Community (EAC) Arts and Culture Festival, popularly known as Jumuiya ya Africa Mashariki Utamaduni Festival (JAMAFEST) scheduled for 4th -12th September, 2022 in Bujumbura, Burundi.
The main objective of the Festival themed “Harnessing cultural resources to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 in the EAC” is to promote regional socio-cultural integration through arts and culture by providing a regional platform to showcase culture as a prime driver of EAC integration.
Addressing delegates during the 5th meeting of the Regional Steering Committee (RSC) held via hybrid format, the EAC Deputy Secretary General in charge of the Productive and Social Sectors, Hon. Christophe Bazivamo, said that the main venue of the festival will be at Intwari Stadium in Bujumbura where the main stage for cultural performances, the exhibition and market place will be located.
Hon. Bazivamo said that the subsidiary venues of Palais de Arts and Insititut Francais will host specialized shows including film festival, comedy and drama while Kiriri Garden Hotel is expected to host the Symposium.
Hon. Bazivamo reaffirmed the readiness of the Republic of Burundi to deliver a successful JAMAFEST and urged the RSC to work closely with the National Organizing Committee to ensure the event was a success.
Hon. Bazivamo underscored the significance of JAMAFEST as a platform for fostering regional socio-cultural integration in East Africa, adding that the festival was aimed at promoting unity in diversity, sharing cross-cultural experiences and dialogues, cultural exchanges in addition to celebrating the rich and diverse cultures and heritage of the people of East Africa.
“I urge Partner States to use the festival to promote economic growth and revival of the tourism industry in the regional integration,” said the DSG.
The Deputy Secretary General disclosed that a theme Song for the festival has been composed and will be played throughout the festival as part of the publicity campaign of creating awareness on the role of arts and culture in regional integration.
During the 5th RSC meeting, the Partner States agreed on sub-themes which shall also form topics for discussions during the Jamafest Symposium 2022 by Partner States.
The United Republic of Tanzania was assigned to prepare a presentation on the adoption of new regional languages in the EAC; Republic of South Sudan was tasked with making a presentation on role of modern technologies in advancing cultural expression and arts – the impact of social media on culture; while the Republic of Kenya will tackle Indigenous Knowledge and Traditional Medicine.
The Republic of Rwanda was assigned Arts, Industry and Tourism; Republic of Uganda will handle Youth Participation and Employment while Burundi will handle Research, Innovation and Investment in Arts and Culture.
Media Accreditation
All Foreign Journalists intending to cover these two key EAC meetings are hereby informed that the Accreditation Process has commenced. All Journalists outside Burundiare alerted to confirm their participation by sending their names and media houses to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. by midday on Friday, 2th September , 2022.
For more information, please contact:
Simon Peter Owaka Senior Public Relations Officer Corporate Communications and Public Affairs Department EAC Secretariat Arusha, Tanzania Tel: +255 768 552087 Email: sowaka [at] eachq.org
About the East African Community Secretariat:
The East African Community (EAC) is a regional intergovernmental organisation of six Partner States, comprising Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda, with its headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 19th August, 2022; East African Community Partner States have reaffirmed their commitment to implement the African Union (AU) Declaration on Land.
The 1st Meeting of the EAC Regional Platform for Sharing Lessons and Best Practices in Land Policy Development that was held in Kampala, Uganda from 17th – 18th August, 2022, called on the EAC Secretariat in collaboration with the African Land Policy Centre (ALPC) to convene periodic meetings of the platform.
East African Community Headquarters, Arusha, Tanzania, 17th August 2022: The East African Community will be organizing the 2nd EAC Regional Tourism EXPO (EARTE’22) that will be hosted by the Republic of Burundi in Bujumbura from 23rd – 30th September, 2022.
The main objective of the EXPO is to promote EAC as a single tourism destination, provide a platform for tourism service providers’ business to business (B2B) engagements, create awareness on tourism investment opportunities and address the challenges affecting the tourism and wildlife sectors in the region.
