President Salva Kiir Mayardit of South Sudan is expected to take over as chairman of the East African Community (EAC) Heads of State Summit at the next ordinary EAC Heads of State Summit scheduled to take place in Arusha, Tanzania, on November 23–24.
President Kiir will be taking over the leadership baton from Burundi’s President Evariste Ndayishimiye, whose one-year tenure came to an end mid this year. EAC Secretary General Dr Peter Mathuki disclosed Kiir’s chairmanship schedule in September this year during a meeting of delegates of the regional body.
“President Kiir is expected as the next Chair of the East African Community after Burundi. Kiir’s nomination as chairman is a testament to South Sudan’s commitment to regional integration,” said Dr Mathuki. Kiir is expected to steer the regional bloc at a time when the region is holding discussions on regional peace and security, particularly the crisis in Sudan and the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where South Sudan has deployed troops as part of the East African Regional Force to help restore peace in the
The EAC chairmanship is a rotating position that is held by each member state for a one-year term. The EAC Heads of State Summit will also witness the admission of the Federal Republic of Somalia as the 8th member state of the African Community.
This follows the outcome of a team of technical experts from the EAC sent to Somalia early this year to verify and assess the preparedness of Somalia to join the regional bloc as the 8th member. EAC Secretary General Peter Mutuku Malthuki told a member state consultative meeting in Nairobi in mid-2023 that his visit to the Federal Republic of Somalia president in October 2022 yielded good results and informed the deliberations on its admission process.
“It is my honour and pleasure to welcome you to this important milestone in the admission process of the Federal Republic of Somalia into the East African Community. In October 2022, following the directive of the 22nd Summit of EAC Heads of State, I visited His Excellency Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, President of the Federal Republic of Somalia, to appraise him on the procedures for admission into the East African Community.” Mathuki said.
The Report of the EAC Verification Team, according to Mathuki, confirmed that the Federal Republic of Somalia already has social, economic, cultural, and geographical ties with the partner states and enjoys good working relations with them. The verification team also confirmed that the Federal Republic of Somalia meets the basic requirements of the Treaty for admission of foreign countries into the East African Community.
