EAC Secretariat launches Citizen's Engagement Campaign

Nov 23, 2019

The EAC, founded in 1967, collapsed in 1977 but was revived in 1999 by leaders from the original three East African countries namely Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania.

The Secretary-General of the EAC, Liberat Mfumukeko (centre) interacts with students various Universities. PHOTOS: Eddie Ssejjoba 
 
As part of the celebrations to mark 20 years since the revival of the East African Community (EAC), the Arusha-based Secretariat in Tanzania has organised a series of activities to reawaken enthusiasm and ignite the spirit of pushing forward the agenda tagged around promoting regional integration.    
 
The EAC, founded in 1967, collapsed in 1977 but was revived in 1999 by leaders from the original three East African countries namely Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania. It came into force on 7 July 2000.
 
Three other countries have since been brought on board and they include Burundi, Rwanda, and South Sudan.  
 
One of the activities the Secretariat is pushing forward is the ‘EAC I Deserve', a citizens engagement crusade, which targets reaching out to over 10 million East African citizens in the next one year.  
 
It is intended, among other things, to engage the citizens for feedback in the partner states on the impact the EAC has made to their life and the future they would wish the region to be.  
 

 The Secretary-General of the EAC, Liberat Mfumukeko (centre) displays with students from various Universities booklets about 20 years celebrations since the revival of the EAC.

The Secretary-General, Ambassador Liberat Mfumukeko while launching the ‘EAC I Deserve' campaign in Arusha said they were targeting everyone on the bloc but with a special bias towards the youth who constitute 65 percent of the regional total population. The launch was attended by youth from universities and other institutions of higher learning.  
 
According to Mfumukeko, the campaign will enable the citizens, particularly the online community, to use the digital space as their platform for engaging the Secretariat, the partner states, the East African Legislative Assembly, the East African Court of Justice and other institutions of the bloc on a number of issues pertaining to the integration.  
 
The drive will, among other things, embrace social media interfaces and a regional ‘Youth Videos and Animations' competition, involving participants from all the six partner states, attracting a total prize of $25,000 (approx sh92.1m) for the innovative 30 youthful winners in the contest. Each out of the 30 winners is likely to walk away with over sh3m.
 

 Students share a light moment

The participants, among other things, are expected to capture videos and animations of real-life stories about benefits the EAC has had on the lives of ordinary citizens, narrate challenges the citizens are facing that can jointly be addressed. The submissions should also attempt to capture the citizens' aspirations of the future EAC they want.  
 
"We at the EAC Secretariat are keen on capturing dreams and aspirations of every citizen of the region during and after this celebration," the Secretary-General stated. He said it was their wish to hear stories of what impact the EAC has made to each one's life.   Ends   
 
 

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});