 Constitution of the Political Confederation resumed in Mombasa, Kenya on Tuesday May 9th, 2023, the exercise is expected to last for 20-days which will include public hearing sessions across the country.){kind=link}
The National consultations for the drafting of the East African Community (EAC) Constitution of the Political Confederation resumed in Mombasa, Kenya on Tuesday May 9th, 2023, the exercise is expected to last for 20-days which will include public hearing sessions across the country.
“I can confirm to you that the team of experts will listen to and engage Kenyans on what type of Confederal Constitution EAC should have from all the 47 counties across the country,” said Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for East African Community Ms. Rebecca Miano.
The consultation of stakeholders that is expected to end on May 27th, 2023 will see the team of constitutional experts for Drafting the EAC Political Federation Constitution hold consultations with civil society, local leaders, opinion leaders and the business community, among other stakeholders, to seek their views on what kind of a Political Confederation they would desire for the EAC.
Apart from Mombasa, the team of experts will hold consultations in Kisumu, Kakamega, Eldoret, Nakuru, Nyeri, Embu, Garissa and Nairobi counties.
Ms. Miano said the public hearing is an excellent way of enforcing the spirit of true ownership of the envisaged outcomes, and called on members of the public to get in touch with offices of the Governors in all the 47 Counties for guidance on how to participate or at the offices of the Regional and County Commissioners.
“I encourage women, religious, youth, civil society, and the academia and business leaders to participate,’’ said the minister.
Among the key areas that will be focused upon during the hearing include the cooperation under the political confederation, the governing structure of the political confederation, modes of decision-making by the confederal authority, governance principles of the confederation, the relationship between individual Partner States and the confederal authority, funding of the operations of the confederal authority, the mode of adoption of the constitution establishing the political confederation and any other constitutional issues of concern to stakeholders.
The process of drafting the Constitution for the EAC Political Confederation is drawn from Article 123(6) and (7) of the Treaty for establishment of the EAC that empowers the Summit of Heads of State to initiate the process towards the establishment of a Political Federation which is the last pillar of the regional integration.
“The Summit in 2017 adopted the Political Confederation as a transitional model of the East African Political Federation,” said Dr. Peter Mathuki the Secretary General of the EAC.
Dr. Mathuki said the report of the Partner States-wide consultations on the draft EAC Political Federation Model, observed that, Partner States had generated convergence on a Confederation as the model for the East African Political Federation.
Kenya is the third Partner State where national consultations are being conducted, national consultations were already conducted in Burundi in January 2020 and Uganda in April 2021.
“I call upon all invited stakeholders to make time, have their views heard and contributions made in order to shape the eventual Constitution for the EAC Political Federation,” said the EAC Secretary General.
The consultation will also highlight challenges encountered and the new developments marked by the admission of new Partner States of Democratic Republic of Congo and the ongoing process to admit Somalia, as well as the changing geo-political environment at the regional level, the African Continent level and globally.
“I want to assure you that as Expert, we much value your contributions keeping in line with the fundamental principle of people-centered regional cooperation, we will be guided by your views in this constitution drafting exercise,” said Justice Benjamin Odoki, the Chairman of the EAC Committee of Constitutional Experts.