S.Sudan, Somalia EAC Admissions Deferred
S. Sudan President Salva Kiir sacked his entire cabinet on Tuesday
Somalia and South Sudan will have to wait for the council of ministers of east Africa to know whether their applications to join the five member economic regional body have been accepted.
The council of ministers that is the decision making body of the regional bloc will engage in negotiations with South Sudan taking into consideration the findings of the verifications committee report.
This was revealed yesterday at the end of the 14th East African Community summit held in Kenya’s capital Nairobi.
Somalia applied for membership in February this year while the South Sudan made its application months after it became independent mid last year.
EAC leaders reached the decision to defer South Sudan’s entry after receiving a progress report on the nation’s admissibility.
However, the leaders fell short of giving the real reasons that led to South Sudan and Somalia’s entry being deferred though Kenya’s East African Community Minister Musa Sirma at a past summit said erratic cases of conflict between Juba and its northern neighbor Sudan could hurt the country’s bid to join the EAC.
Membership to East African Community can only happen after a country adheres to the EAC treaty conditions which include, observing universally acceptable principles of good governance, democracy, rule of law, observance of human rights and social justice.
A country should also be able to contribute towards the strengthening of integration within the region; geographical proximity between it and partner states and establishment and maintenance of a market driven economy to gain EAC membership.
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