The democratic Republic of Congo was on Wednesday 29th March 2022 officially welcomed into the East African block during the 19th virtual summits of the Heads of States
Democratic Republic of ha become the 7th member of the community joining countries like South Sudan who joined in 2016, Rwanda and Burundi and the pioneers of Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya.
While addressing the Community Heads of States, Uhuru Kenyatta also the chairman of the community and also doubles as the Kenya president said the joining of Democratic Republic of Congo to the East African Community will enable the community to achieve needed development based on the economies of large scale.
“Today, the 29th, is a historic day in the history of the East African Community as we admit the Democratic Republic of Congo into the block,” Kenyatta asserted.
President Kenyatta added, the admission of the DRC into the community is not only historic for our countries but for the African continent at large.
The Uganda President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni asserted that for people looking for prosperity, this is a very important issue to welcome the DRC into the EAC block.
We now need to work on peace in the Eastern Congo, because the region has had problems for sometimes, Said Museveni.
While in the summit at the Buganana border of DRC and Uganda, thousands of Congolese were fleeing to Uganda due to gun fires that happened between Ugandan and Congolese army against the M23 rebel.
Tanzania President Samia Suluhu Hassan said their expectation that the Democratic Republic of Congo will ratify the admission on time to allow the community to benefit from the integration while Burundi Vice President Prosper Bagombanza said that coming together will benefit the community to achieve its integration agenda.
South Sudan’s Minister in the Office of the President Dr Barnaba Marial Benjamin who represented President Salva Kiirr, while Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi also addressed the meeting.
Today the East African community has had some achievements among which the use of a single tourist Visa which allows entry of three of the member countries of Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda and it’s worked on to see that all members to embrace the move to aid in tourism promotion among member states.
To all member states, for their citizens don’t need visa to cross borders, only use their national identification cards and passports and soon the community is working on making a single block passport.
