BY GRACE MACHA IN ARUSHA
After last year's fast-tracked admission of DR Congo into the East African Community (EAC), Somalia will likely follow suit this year.
This time around, however, the EAC boss Peter Mathuki will have put his negotiation skills in higher gear to further expansion of the bloc.
"Should everything go as planned, the entire process will be completed this year", he intimated in Arusha on Wednesday.
He said after the official launching of the EAC verification team to the Horn of Africa country that, as was the case for the DRC last year, the process would be fast-tracked.
Dr. Mathuki, who spearheaded the admission of DRC Congo after taking over as EAC boss in 2021, played down insecurity in Somalia as an obstacle.
"Other countries in the EAC have security challenges. Why should we allow conflicts to derail our goal for regional integration?", he asked.
However, the EAC chief acknowledged serious insecurity challenges which have tarnished Somalia's image to the world.
"We are aware of bloody attacks in Somalia. EAC will have a mandate to address them once it joins the bloc", he pointed out.
He pleaded during the hybrid launching of the verification exercise in Mogadishu that Somalia should not be seen only from the negative side.
"We should not focus on the challenges alone. EAC has peace resolution mechanisms that would be applied to restore peace there", he said.
Delayed admission of Somalia into the Community has often been attributed to instability and decades-long bloody conflicts there.
The country applied to join the EAC wayback in 2012 but has been overtaken by South Sudan and DR Congo which were admitted in 2016 and 2022 respectively.
EAC officials rarely discuss reasons behind Mogadishu's admission delay but in private they could not hide their feelings on the country's association with terrorism.
Somalia shares a long border with Kenya and, like Uganda, and other neighbours has suffered bloody terror attacks from Al Shabaab terror group.
Although the EAC mission is in Mogadishu to assess the country's readiness to join the Community, Dr.Mathuki said no time will be left to waste.
Between Wednesday this week and February 3rd, the team will engage Somalia government officials to establish a level of conformity with the EAC admission criteria.
Once the verification is finalized a report on the same will be presented to the EAC Council of Ministers, a powerful organ of the Community.
The authoritative ministerial organ will table the report for consideration by the 23rd Summit of EAC Heads of State scheduled for the end of February 2023.
The mission is set to make findings relating to the institutional, legal and policy frameworks in place; as well as policies, strategies, projects and programmes.
Other matters under the verification radar are areas of cooperation with other EAC partner states and expectations from membership.
As expected, the verification terms include the status of Somalia's peace and security in the region as well as the rest of the world.
However, Dr. Mathuki insisted on the economic benefits the EAC bloc would gain by admitting Somalia, which has been a trading partner.
“Somalia has the longest national coastline of over 3,300 kms in Africa, linking Africa to the Arabian Peninsula, which the region will tap into to increase intra-regional trade,” he added.
Somalia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Abshir Omar expressed enthusiasm for the team set to assess Somalia’s readiness to join the bloc.
He said that Somalia will benefit greatly because of the free movement of people from Somalia and other countries without a visa.
“Somalis are already present in the East African region. The Somalis started integrating with their brothers and sisters of the region way before the request of formalizing the decision of joining the EAC,” he said.
Abdulsalam Omer, the Special Envoy of the President of Somalia to EAC, reaffirmed his country's appeal to expedite the process of admission, so that Somalia can be the eighth member.
“Somalia will benefit significantly through the increased movement of goods, services and people across the bloc in addition to expanding intra-regional trade.
"Further, the exploitation of Somalia’s blue economy resources such as fish will boost the regional economy,” he said.
The EAC verification mission is chaired by Mrs. Tiri Marie Rose from Burundi, the current Chair of the Community.
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