Dr. Abdisalam Omer(left) with Minister Biruta
This morning, Rwanda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Vincent Biruta had a meeting with Dr. Abdisalam Omer, Somalia’s Special Envoy to the East African Community.
The discussion between Minister Biruta and Dr. Abdisalam Omer revolved around Somalia’s request to join the East African Community (EAC).
On 25th January 2023, the East African Community officially launched the verification mission to assess the Federal Republic of Somalia’s readiness to join the Community.
Somalia shares borders with one EAC Partner State, namely Kenya, and has strong historical, linguistic, economic and socio-cultural links with all the EAC Partner States.
The Federal Republic of Somalia made its application to join the EAC in 2012. Since its application, the matter has been pending due to various reasons.
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. (End)