South
Sudan on Sunday said an attempt by Sudan
to join the five-nation East African Community (EAC)
regional body has hit a difficulty, saying the admission of Sudan would only be possible through the newly
established Republic
of South Sudan.
General Gier Chuang Aluong, minister of roads and
bridges said in an interview with Sudan Tribune on Sunday that the
decision was reached initially at a high level meeting of EAC officials early
this week and endorsed by the higher decision making organs of the Community as
well as in the Co-ordination Committee and the Council of Ministers meeting in
Arusha in the northern Tanzania on Friday.
Minister Aluong, who held two ministerial posts in
South Sudan’s regional government prior to independence in July, said the
decision will be brought before the East Africa Community Heads of State
meeting in Bujumbura, Burundi in November, which has the mandate to consider
the position or reverse the decision.
“We are the gateway for admission of the Republic of Sudan into the East Africa Community.
The Republic of Sudan’s application does not meet the
EAC Treaty’s criteria at least at this stage,” Aluong explained in an interview
with Sudan Tribune.
He said the Treaty states that any country which
wishes to join the regional bloc must be of a geographical proximity to the
current members, which is not the case with Sudan
since the partition of South Sudan.
“North Sudan’s application can only sail through if South Sudan joins the EAC,’’ added the minister. South Sudan became an independent state in July, after
decades of civil war with the North.
South Sudan borders with the EAC partner states of Uganda and Kenya.
But its regional proximity is not the only issue for Sudan’s entry
into the regional bloc. North Sudan’s human rights record, especially in
connection with ethnic cleansing in the Darfur
region is thought to be of concern.
The senior member of South Sudan‘s ruling party, the
Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) also explained that the EAC Treaty
requires that any country that wishes to join has to adhere to universally
accepted principles of good governance, democracy, the rule of law, observance
of human rights and social justice.
“These requirements are extremely questionable at
this stage with North Sudan,” he said.
“I am told there were attempts [by] Burundi and Tanzania
to include French and Kiswahili as official language for East
Africa community. These requests have been shelved probably
because the community is expecting the south to join its membership”, he
explained.
Currently, English is the only official working
language of the EAC. It was resolved that a team of experts look at the cost
analysis of joining the EAC and a report be presented at the next Council of
Ministers meeting.
The EAC was revived in 1999 by the three founding
partners of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Rwanda and Burundi joined the bloc in 2007.
The former EAC collapsed in 1977 largely because of ideological differences
among member states.
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