South Sudan Officially Joins The East African Community

Juba, South Sudan.

Sept 5, 2016(Nyamilepedia) —– Today, Monday Sept 5th, South Sudan submitted the Instruments of Ratification Agreement to East African Community as part of the formulation to officially join the regional bloc.

The document was submitted by Aggrey Tisa Sabuni, Presidential Advisor on Economic Affairs to Ambassador Liberat Mfumukeko, the Secretary General on behave of the East African Community (EAC) bloc.

The instruments of ratification show government’s readiness to comply with the East African Community (EAC)’s laws, regulations and ultimatums.

Hon. Tisa is also the one who presented the instruments on Monday to the East African Community at the headquarters in Arusha, on behalf of the government of South Sudan.

With this ratification submitted, South Sudan is now entitled to full and equal rights, obligations and privileges with the rest of the EAC community.

The instrument is a document that member countries sign as a requirement when joining the bloc. It explains the rules and regulations and code of conduct of member countries.

South Sudan was accepted to become the sixth member of the East African Community in April this year (2016).

In April this year, Salva Kiir travelled to Arusha to sign the controversial agreement on behave of South Sudan, a young country that is broiled in civil warfares fought along tribal lines.

On behave of the region, the Tanzanian President, John Magufuli, who doubles up as the bloc chairman sealed the agreement making South Sudan the six member joining Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya.

Despite that many opposition parties and senior politicians did not consent for the young country to join the bloc, arguing that South Sudan will be extremely exploited by relatively advanced EAC economies, President Salva Kiir is internally criticized for taking the opportunity to gain more political supports from the region at the expense of South Sudan’s vulnerable economy.

Being admitted to the regional body means that South Sudan will now open its porous borders to the region in exchange of economic goods and human resources from the region but in return South Sudan is outsourcing refugees and insecurity.

While South Sudan will benefit from freer movement of labour and capital and, in principle, free trade, the move will also worsen insecurity in its capital as more guns would be carried on the streets by foreign gangs in the heavily militarized national capital, Juba.

The EAC has been reluctant to admit South Sudan as the bloc members have already planned to increase their economic integration through a monetary union and eventually establish a single political federation, which could be dragged back by South Sudan’s civil war.

The EAC is also funding railways and other infrastructures like airports to connect ports and major cities around these countries to step up development and economic growth but due to conflict in the young nation, South Sudan cannot even fetch its own budget for 2016-2017.

Since its independent in July 2011, South Sudan has only witnessed construction of Juba-Nimule road, the only highway that was funded by the United States Agency for International Development(USAID).

South Sudan has enjoyed relative peace for 2 years after its independent in 2011 but returned to a deadly civil war in December 2013. Since then conflict has been escalating to nearly all counties as war and hunger continue to displace more civilians.

Despite that a peace agreement was signed more than one year ago, there is little hope that South Sudan would be stable for the next few years as its political leaders continue to lay obstacles while preparing for war.