South Sudan is edging closer to become a member of East African Community after it emerged that it will be admitted as an observer.
Admission of the war-torn country into the EAC is on the agenda of the 17th Ordinary EAC Heads of State Summit set for February 29 in Tanzania.
Sources privy to the outcome of the final talks on the admission said Juba will stay as an observer until concerns over instability, bad governance, democracy and its human-rights record are addressed.
The source said the Heads of State Summit is expected to determine the period Juba will stay as an observer member of the EAC.
Should South Sudan secure observer status, it will become the first country to be accorded such a status since the EAC was formed in 1999. Observer status allows a country to attend key EAC meetings but it cannot participate in decision-making or vote.
An EAC member country is expected to adherence to universally acceptable principles of good governance, democracy, the rule of law and observance of human rights and social justice. Other conditions are a potential contribution to the strengthening of integration within the EAC, geographical proximity to and interdependence between it and the partner states.
