The East African Community (EAC) heads of state will discuss Somalia’s application to join the regional body this weekend during the heads of state summit in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
Analysts believe that Somalia should first be assisted in fixing its insecurity first before being admitted.
“Before Somalia is brought on board, it has to be assisted to become safe and stable while strengthening peace,” Sirili Akko, the executive secretary of the Tanzania Association of Tour Operators told the Citizen.
According to Akko, insecurity anywhere in the region will affect the whole regional especially the fragile tourism sector. Somalia has been in turmoil since 1991, first with the clan militias and then by the al Shabaab insurgency.
“We (East Africans) have not resolved the problems of Burundi and South Sudan. Somalia is even worse,” said Mr. Simon Mapolu, a business consultant told the Citizen.
Mapolu added that the EAC should focus on peace and tranquility instead of increasing numbers of members.
EAC admitted South Sudan last year. The violence in the world’s youngest nation has made it hard for investors from the bloc to trade.
“South Sudan has a lot of resources but it’s road to peace is still bumpy, politically not stable. No regional integration can be done without peace,” Said Mapolu.
Somalia applied to join the EAC in 2012 through an official letter submitted on February 28th to the then EAC chair Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki. ‘Wider consultations’ over the security concerns in the horn of Africa have discussed in successive heads of state summits.
EAC has six members, Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, Burundi, Rwanda and South Sudan.
