EAC Heads Of State Appoint Veronica Nduva As SG

The East African Community (EAC) Heads of State have appointed Kenya’s outgoing Performance Management Principal Secretary, Veronica Nduva, the Secretary General of the bloc’s secretariat.

She replaces Ambassador Peter Mathuki, who will now advance Nairobi’s interests in Moscow.

Nduva, took the oath of office Friday evening at State House in Juba, South Sudan, during a virtual summit chaired by President Salva Kiir.

“The summit Took note of the appointment of Peter Mutuku Mathuki by H.E. William Samoei Ruto, President of the Republic of Kenya, as Ambassador of the Republic of Kenya to Moscow in Russia and his consequential withdrawal by the Republic of Kenya as secretary general of the East African Community,” a joint communique released following the 23rd extra-ordinary summit read.

The summit was attended by Paul Kagame, (Rwanda), Hassan Sheikh Mohamud (Somalia,) Yoweri Museveni (Uganda)Samia Suluhu (Tanzania) and Félix Tshisekedi (DRC).

Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi represented President William Ruto while his Burundi’s Vice President Prosper Bazombanza represented Évariste Ndayishimiye.

Speaking after taking the oath as Secretary General, Nduva promised to dedicate her tenure to promoting deeper integration and development of the people of East Africa.

Nduva said her key priorities would include strengthening economic integration that encourages innovation, entrepreneurship, and job creation, in addition to peace and security.

Nduva, EAC’s first female SG, promised to advance social development with special attention to empowering women and youth, who she termed the backbone of society in the region.

Advancing integration

Infrastructure development will also rank high on the incoming SG’s agenda as she reiterated that the sector will require innovative financing solutions and strengthened public-private-partnerships (PPPs).

“To promote climate resilient growth, we will continue addressing the pressing challenges of climate change collectively as a region. This includes promoting green energy, sustainable agriculture, conservation efforts and resource mobilisation as a bloc,” she added.

Speaking at the event, Tanzania’s President Suluhu urged the incoming Secretary General to focus on improving the visibility of the EAC and addressing the lack of shared perception of benefits of integration among East Africans.

She argued that some East Africans were unsure of the fruits of integration.

President Suluhu singled out the challenges posed by climate change and urged the new SG to promote adaptation and mitigation to reduce the adverse impact of the phenomenon on EAC economies.

Suluhu said that prioritizing increased access to cleaner and affordable energy would enable the region to transition to cleaner and modern cooking solutions that would in turn deliver greater benefits in terms of emission reductions, forest preservation and protection of biodiversity.

Rwanda’s Kagame hailed the directive by the Summit for the convening of a retreat of the EAC Ministers of Foreign and Regional Affairs to deliberate on the Report of the Consultative Meetings by the Chairperson of the Summit on Partner States’ Relations.