EAC to work on establishing institutions

A special meeting of the East African Community (EAC), which was postponed last week as a result of the African SMART dialogue meeting in Uganda, was due to get under way in Arusha, northern Tanzania, on Tuesday, the Tanzanian Internews agency reported on Monday. Senior government officials and civil servants from Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya are scheduled to discuss and approve budgets for the East African Legislative Assembly and the East African Court of Justice, both set to become operational in November, the report stated. Delegates would also review the progress in the implementation of the EAC Treaty, the establishment of an East African Customs Union, and the drafting of an east African trade policy document, it added. The revival of the assembly and court follows the relaunch of the EAC on 15 January by presidents Benjamin Mkapa of Tanzania, Yoweri Museveni of Uganda and Daniel arap Moi of Kenya. The EAC, in its original form, collapsed in 1977, mainly because of divergent policy priorities between the partner states. The assembly will temporarily hold its sessions in the Kololo Hall of the Arusha International Conference Center, pending the construction of a permanent EAC building in Arusha, Internews reported. Tanzania had already nominated its nine members to the East African Assembly, with Kenya and Uganda expected to do likewise by the end of September, the report added. It cited EAC sources as saying that none of the member states had yet appointed judges for the East African Court, but that it was hoped the appointments would be finalised before its launch in November. The registrar of the EAC Court of Justice, John Ruhangisa of Tanzania, took up his position on 1 July.