The East African Community on Sunday celebrated its 20th anniversary with display in Arusha, Tanzania.
Uganda 2nd Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for EAC Affairs, Dr. Ali Kirunda Kivejinja, said Partner States would not repeat the mistake of the past that led to the collapse of the first Community.
He said that the cost of the collapse of the first EAC was monumental in terms of the loss of jobs, incomes and other benefits to East Africans.
Dr. Kivejinja said that the Treaty for the Establishment of the EAC should guide all matters around the integration process.
He warned against politicizing issues that could be settled amicably by the Partner States and that all EAC staff members have to take their work seriously.
The Deputy Prime Minister said that East Africans have a common history, ancestry and were the descendants of the first human being describing East Africa as the cradle land of all mankind.
EAC Secretary General Ambassador Liberat Mfumukeko disclosed that a regional campaign comprising several activities was being carried out to highlight key milestones as part of celebrations.
He noted that the region had made tremendous achievements including new infrastructure, regional industrialization policies, healthcare programmes, a common external tariff and a common higher education area.
‘Today we recognize and affirm that each one of us deserves better; this is our call for action for all stakeholders to pull together so that the Community can deliver the dreams of our citizens,’ said the SG.