By Frank Kamuntu
President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni on Tuesday met and held discussions with a delegation from the East African Community (EAC) Secretariat led by the Secretary General, Hon. Dr. Peter Mathuki at State House Entebbe.
During the meeting, President Museveni lauded the fallen Pan-Africanists such as the late Mwalimu Julius Nyerere-former President of Tanzania and the late Kwame Nkrumah-former President of Ghana for fostering the formation and growth of the East African Community (EAC).
He noted that it was because of the commitment of these Pan-African heroes that the dream to form the EAC was realized.
“This is not a personal commitment but the movement of Pan-Africanists led by Mwalimu Nyerere here and Nkrumah on our side. And then we had the puppets like Njonjo who were influenced by the Europeans that sabotaged our ideas; we could have even formed our federation,” the President revealed.
“It was Njonjo who convinced Kenyatta and unfortunately, he pulled out and then we had our Obotehere playing games and because of that, Mwalimu had to give up on this great move.”
Dr. Mathuki thanked President Museveni for his immense contribution towards the continuous growth and expansion of the EAC.
“Your Excellency, we always reflect on your speeches and they keep encouraging us to move towards uniting the EAC into a bigger and stronger region,” he said.
The EAC is a regional intergovernmental organization of seven (7) Partner States including; The Republic of Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of Kenya, the Republic of Rwanda, the Republic of South Sudan, the Republic of Uganda, and the United Republic of Tanzania, with its headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania.
The meeting was also attended by the First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of East African Community Affairs, Rt.Hon. Rebecca Kadaga, the Minister of State for Defence, Hon. Jacob ObothOboth, among other officials.
