Museveni, Mkapa & Moi to be honoured for reviving EAC
Apr 21, 2016
Julius Nyerere, Jomo Kenyatta and Milton Obote will also be awarded
President Yoweri Museveni alongside former Presidents Benjamin Mkapa of Tanzania and Daniel Arap Moi of Kenya shall next month (May 29) be honoured for having championed the revival of the East African Community (EAC) in 1999.
The recognition themed; 'Tracing and Trekking the Footsteps of our Founding Fathers-Walking the Talk', is the first of its kind initiative by Afrika Mashariki Fest, a regional integration non-partisan voluntary youth platform that believes youth must be vanguard of the EAC integration.
Speaking at a press briefing ahead of the platform's second annual marathon slated for April 29th, Ronex Kisembo the event organiser said the awards will have a motivational impact on the stakeholders in the integration process, hence making it faster.
"We felt the need to recognise and reward those outstanding individuals and organisations that have exhibited excellence and in a patriotic way supported or impacted on our dream (the EA integration)," Kisembo said.
Following the Tripartite Agreement of 1993, a re-birth of the EAC integration was witnessed in 1999 under the championship of the three Presidents. The community has since grown from just three member states to six countries including; Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan being the latest entrant.
Former Tanzanian president Benjamin Mkapa (L) will aso be honoured.
Other individuals set to receive awards include; the late Mwalimu Julius Nyerere (Tanzania), Mzee Jomo Kenyatta (Kenya) and Dr. Apollo Milton Obote (Uganda) under the Life achievement category for having championed the formation of the EAC in 1967.
Meanwhile this year's marathon theme is 'Addressing Youth Unemployment through Embracing Sports.'
According to Gyagenda Semakula the Afrika Mashariki spokesperson, all proceeds from the marathon shall support initiatives for sustainable utilization of Lake Victoria and the River Nile Basin.
Registration for the races is ongoing at Nakumatt branches of Oasis Mall, Bugolobi, Bukoto, Acacia and Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) headquarters at City Hall.