The fast-tracking of the East African Federation is not progressing as quickly as expected, Juma Mwapachu, the Secretary General of the East African Community has said.
In an interview with Tanzania's Daily News, Mwapachu disclosed that the country reports on fast-tracking the East African Federation are a month late. He said the delays have set back the scrutiny and eventual compilation of a final report to be presented to an extraordinary summit of the East African Community in Arusha next month.
National committees in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania were given six months to collect views from a cross-section of stakeholders on creating a political federation for East Africa. They were expected to hand over their findings to the East African Community secretariat last month.
Sources say the Kenyan and Ugandan committees are finalizing their reports, while the Tanzanian committee has referred its findings to authorities in the government before handing it over to the East African Community secretariat.
The idea to fast-track East African Federation was endorsed at the special summit held in Nairobi in August 2004.
