Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud [right] on Tuesday [Oct. 25, 2022] received at his office the Secretary-General of the East African Community, Dr. Peter Mathuki in push to step up efforts to join the trade bloc - COURTESY

The President of the Federal Republic of Somalia has called on the East African Community to fast-track his country’s admission into the Community.

President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said Somalia joining the Community has been a delayed dream for the people and the Government of Somalia.

He urged the Secretary-General, Dr. Peter Mathuki, to expedite the process of admission so that his country can be the 8th member of the EAC.

The President made the call during the maiden visit of Dr. Mathuki to Mogadishu.

Dr. Mathuki formally delivered the 22nd EAC Ordinary Summit’s directive to the Council to expeditiously fast-track the verification exercise for Somalia in accordance with the EAC procedures of admission of new countries into the Community.

“Somalia belongs to the East African Community. There is no country among the EAC Partners States that is not linked by business with Somalia and existing historical linkages include language and culture,” said President Mohamud.

President Mohamud told the Secretary-General that his country was working tirelessly to remove all the security challenges with the support of some of the EAC member states.

“We are counting on you Secretary General to send the verification team here in Mogadishu to start the process,” he added.

The president reiterated the strategic position of Somalia saying that the Community will benefit significantly through the increased movement of goods, services, and people across the bloc in addition to expanding intra-regional trade with the already established Somali businesses in the region.

President Mohamud said that Somalia’s long Indian Ocean Red Sea route that links Africa to the Arabian Peninsula was a vibrant economic zone.

He added that the exploitation of Somalia’s blue economy resources such as fish and the expansive coastline would boost the regional economy.

The Secretary-General told the Somali president that the EAC Secretariat would write to Partner States to request for nominations for members to constitute the EAC Verification Team.

The Team will comprise 3 experts from each Partner State and officials from the Secretariat.

In addition, upon the receipt of the names from the Partner States, the Secretariat will submit the names to the Council for approval to conduct the exercise.

Dr. Mathuki assured the President of his total commitment to leading the process of admission of Somalia Into the Community as directed by the Summit.

The Federal Republic of Somalia made its application to join the East African Community in 2012. Since its application, the matter has been pending due to various reasons.

The Secretariat wrote to the Federal Republic of Somalia on 12th November 2018 proposing a working visit on 20th November 2018 by a team from the Secretariat to Somalia.

The purpose of the working visit was for the Secretariat to meet the relevant authorities from Somalia and agree on, among other things, the way forward towards holding of a verification exercise.

The Federal Republic of Somalia on its part communicated back on 17th November 2018, informing the Secretariat that the timing for the working visit was not conducive then and that an alternative date was to be agreed upon by the parties.

The 22nd Ordinary Summit of the EAC Heads of State observed that the Verification Exercise for the Admission of the Federal Republic of Somalia into the Community had not been undertaken and directed the Council to expeditiously fast-track the verification exercise in accordance with the EAC Procedures for admission of New Members into the EAC and report to the 23rd Ordinary Meeting of the Summit.