The President of East Africa Civil Society Organizations Forum, Mr Edmund Yakani, has called for freedom for the civil society to operate to expedite the integration of the region.
Yakani made the call to the heads of state and government of the East Africa Community (EAC) members during the second East Africa Civil Society Organizations Forum (EACSOF) summit in Arusha, Tanzania from June 18 to 21.
In a statement to Radio Tamazuj, Yakani said he had already met with the East Africa Legislative Assembly (EALA) Speaker, Josephe Ntakirutimana.
I urge every EAC head of state and government to allow the civil society to operate freely,” he said.
We will this year tour each member state through our national chapters to interact with the leaders. We need to take responsibility to commemorate the 25 years of existence or the silver jubilee of the EACA, which will be commemorated in Juba, South Sudan, and we want to make sure the East African citizens participate effectively, he added.
Yakani disclosed that the Arusha summit mainly focused on governance, digital rights, climate change and food security and harnessing the potentials of the East African citizens for genuine integration.
We also interacted with the EALA members on the integration of the East African citizens, their free movement, trade, human rights, and good governance, he said.
“We have agreed with the EALA members on the necessity to enact a legislation to unify the civic space, so that civil society will contribute to the genuine integration of the region,” he said.
Yakani announced that next year’s civil society summit would be held in June in Nairobi-Kenya.