Uhuru to address Eala in Arusha

Arusha

President Uhuru Kenyatta will travel to Arusha, Tanzania, tomorrow where he is expected address members of the East African Legislative Assembly (Eala).

Mr Kenyatta, the chairperson of the East African Community, will deliver the State of EAC Address in the regional parliament on Tuesday.

On arrival, the President, who will travel by road from Nairobi, will also have the opportunity of meeting the staff of the EAC Secretariat before the conference.

According to a programme issued by EAC, Mr Kenyatta will spend time visiting the new headquarters of the Community, inaugurated in November 2012.

The building, situated next to the Arusha International Conference Centre, was constructed through a €14 million (Sh1.6 billion) grant from the German government.

The last time the EAC staff were addressed by a regional Head of State was in August 2005, when then Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa met them shortly before he stepped down.

During the event, he was tasked to explain Tanzania’s membership to different economic blocs and whether it was not compromising the country’s commitment to the Community.  

President Kenyatta will be the second head of State to address Eala since the new chambers were opened on November 27, 2012. Tanzania’s Jakaya Kikwete was first.

The presidential spokesman Manoah Esipisu Saturday confirmed the President will travel to Arusha on Monday and return on Tuesday.

“The President will address Eala in context of the strengthened regional integration. He will stop over at Namanga to address an informal gathering,” said Mr Esipisu.

 President Kenyatta was in Arusha in April last year for the Extra-Ordinary Summit of the EAC Heads of State which, among other things, set in motion the process to realise the EAC Single Customs Territory.

 The focus of the address reflects on matters of general policies relating to the progress that the community has made, while outlining strategic challenges requiring greater attention.

In most instances, the occasion calls upon the chairperson of the Summit of EAC Heads of State to traverse the region and deliver the address in a neighbouring partner State where the Eala is sitting.

Next week’s  session of the regional House expects to debate on the EAC Integration Bill 2014 among other activities, according to a statement from the EAC Secretariat.

The meeting brings together legislators, Council of Ministers and the Department of Political Federation at the EAC Secretariat in Arusha.