20110404 - East African Community is gearing to elect its third Secretary General, as its leaders continue to pay glowing tribute to Juma Mwapachu, whose tenure has expired.

East African Legislative Assembly meeting in Rwanda last week passed a resolution paying tribute to the outgoing EAC Secretary General and ex-officio member of EALA, as it entered its third straight day of deliberations at the Parliament of Rwanda, Kigali.

Mwapachu, a Tanzanian national, has successfully stirred the secretariat since 2006 albeit uncontroversial in a move that has seen the enactment of the Customs Union and the Common Market Protocol in the past five years.

Other than overseeing successful negotiations of the EAC Common Market, which was signed in November 2009 and entered in to force on July 1, 2010, Mwapachu is instrumental in putting together the development of the Terms of Reference (ToRs) to spearhead the negotiations of the EAC Monetary Union, which is the next level of integration.

The Heads of State Summit is expected to meet in Dar es Salaam mid this month to elect a new Secretary General in conformity with the provisions of article 67 of the Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community.

While Tanzania and Uganda are not eligible to provide a secretary general, all focus is now on Kenya and the new entrants to the community, Rwanda and Burundi.

However, Rwanda is placed ahead of Kenya and Burundi as the possible holder of the office comes April 18, 2011 when the EAC Heads of State Summit takes place in Tanzania.