A meeting of the EAC Council of the Ministers sitting in Arusha, Tanzania has endorsed Jessica Eriyo, a former Ugandan cabinet minister, as the bloc’s Deputy Secretary General (Political Federation).Eriyo replaces Beatrice Kiraso, also from Uganda, who served in the same position since her appointment by the EAC Heads of State in April 2006.EAC Deputy Secretaries General serve a three-year term, renewable only once."The council recommended the appointment of Hon. Jessica Eriyo from Uganda as Deputy Secretary General of EAC to the summit which will consider the recommendations,” Uganda’s High Commissioner to Rwanda Richard Kabonero told The New Times by phone from Arusha yesterday.Eriyo now waits to be approved by the 10th extraordinary Heads of State Summit that takes place tomorrow at Ngurdoto Mountain Lodge in Arusha, Tanzania.The Council also recommended the re-appointment of Burundi’s Jean Claude Nsengiyumva as Deputy Secretary General (Social and Productive sectors).Kiraso has repeatedly called for a stronger role of political parties in the formation of a political union for the region, adding that without them, the whole idea is doomed to failure.Currently there are four EAC Deputy Secretaries General in charge of duties which include; Finance and Administration, Planning and Infrastructure, Political Federation, and Productive and Social Sectors.