KIGALI - Ministers and Permanent Secretaries in charge of East African Community (EAC) affairs are meeting in Mwanza, Tanzania to chart the way forward for the second decade since the bloc’s existed.

The two-day retreat which kicked off, on Tuesday, also aims at reflecting on a vision of the EAC in 2020 and to ensure that necessary interventions are well developed and reflected within the 4th EAC Development Strategy.

"We are taking stock of the EAC restructuring report. We will explore ways of how capacity can be increased now that several stages of integration like the Common Market Protocol came into force,” EAC Deputy Secretary General (Productive Sectors), Jean Claude Nsengiyumva said yesterday in a phone interview from Mwanza

The Chairperson of the EAC Council of Ministers, Hafsa Mossi, said there was need to undertake extensive but well focused public awareness campaigns at all levels and among all the communities within and across all EAC Partner States to bring them on board to this important vision.

The retreat is also attended by the Speaker of the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) Abdirahin Abdi, and members of the assembly, EAC Court of Justice and heads of other EAC institutions.

"There is an urgent need for us to increase the involvement as well as participation of the various stakeholders in the formulation and implementation of our programmes and projects. It is upon us to identify the levels of their involvement and the structures to be used for such engagement,” Mossi added.

The retreat is intended to pave a clear path on the kind of organizational system needed for the Community to move forward.

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