Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has made an appeal to the East African Community (EAC) Heads of State to have his country admitted as a member of the bloc.
President Mohamud made the appeal at the ongoing EAC Heads of State Summit on the EAC Common Market where he was attending as a guest of the Summit.
President Mohamud said that his country had made an application to join the bloc in 2014 but added that the circumstances did not allow the application to be processed.
He said that Somalia has had a long-time dream of joining the bloc with which it shares strong historical, cultural, linguistic and economic links.
He thanked the EAC Partner States for the great efforts that they have made over the years to stabilize his country including peace-keeping.
President Mohamud said that the future of Somalia and the EAC was interlinked, adding that Somalia had a lot to contribute to a stronger and more prosperous EAC including 10 million acres of arable land.
Currently, the EAC bloc is made up of 7 Partner States that include; the Democratic Republic of Congo (DR Congo), Republic of Burundi, Republic of Kenya, Republic of Burundi, Republic of Kenya, Republic of South Sudan, Republic of Uganda, and United Republic of Tanzania.
Under the EAC bloc, All Partner States prescribe the principles and values outlined in the Treaty for Establishment of the East African Community.