EAC committee sets up media strategy

GASABO - The National Consultative Committee (NCC) on the fast tracking of the East Africa political federation will soon use a massive media strategy in collection of views about the EAC integration process. According to the committee’s chairperson Prof. Anastase Shyaka, the media will play a crucial role in enabling the respondents (Rwandans) acquire enough information about the integration process in order for them to make well-informed decisions. “We have set up a two-fold strategy on communication and public awareness strategy. The target audiences include secondary and higher learning institutions, companies, and civil society organizations,” he said during a meeting with the press at his office in Kacyiru yesterday. Shyaka added that the committee intends to carry out a regular programme called ‘Kubaza bitera kumenya’ (meaning, ‘asking leads to knowledge’) on Radio Rwanda and to generate debate and discussions as well as raising critical challenges that need to be addressed. In conjunction with the National Institute of Statistics of Rwanda, the NCC soon intends to administer fact-finding surveys in different parts of the country. “We want to make sure all issues are known to the public. The leaders who craft programs need to know what the citizens as end-users think and their expectations from the East African political federation,” Shyaka explained. Since its establishment in May this year, NCC has been sensitizing Rwandans on the different stages of integration that include; the Customs Union, Common Market Treaty, the Monetary Union, and a Political Federation. Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania presented their reports on the fast tracking of the political federation to the EAC Secretariat in August last year. Ends