EAC leaders meet to swear in new bloc boss
Friday June 07 2024
South Sudan's President and EAC chairman Salva Kiir Mayardit. PHOTO | PCS
The East African Community (EAC) heads of State have convened for an extraordinary summit which will see them appoint a new head of the Secretariat to replace Peter Mathuki.
The summit is expected to swear in Veronica Nduva, Kenya's President William Ruto nominee for Secretary-General, after a change of guard that was triggered by the recall of Dr Mathuki on March 8.
President Ruto nominated him as Kenya’s ambassador to Russia in foreign service changes.
Kenya’s Principal Secretary Ministry of Gender and Affirmative Action, Veronica Nduva speaks during the International Domestic Workers Day at Pride Inn in Nairobi, Kenya on June 16, 2023. PHOTO | FILE | NMG
The heads of State are to discuss a way forward following Kenya's High Court decision to block the appointment of Zablon Muruka Mokua as a judge of the East African Court of Justice (EACJ), after the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) challenged his selection based on his qualifications for the position.
The summit is also taking place at a time when the regional bloc is facing a funding crisis, which has caused many programmes of the bloc to stall in the past few months due to non-remittance of dues amounting to approximately $40 million by partner States.
So far, only Kenya has completed payments of its remittance to the bloc.