PRESIDENT Yoweri Museveni alongside former presidents Benjamin Mkapa of Tanzania and Daniel Arap Moi of Kenya shall next month (May 29) be honoured for having championed the revival of the East African Community (EAC) in 1999.
The recognition themed; ‘Tracing and Trekking the Footsteps of our Founding Fathers-Walking the Talk’, is the first of its kind initiative by Afrika Mashariki Fest, a regional integration non-partisan voluntary youth platform that believes the youth must be vanguard of the EAC integration.
Speaking at a press briefing ahead of the platform’s second annual marathon slated for April 29, Ronex Kisembo, the event organiser, said the awards will have a motivational impact on the stakeholders in the integration process, hence making it faster.
“We felt the need to recognise and reward those outstanding individuals and organisations that have exhibited excellence and in a patriotic way supported or impacted on our dream (the EA integration),” Kisembo said.
Following the Tripartite Agreement of 1993, a re-birth of the EAC integration was witnessed in 1999 under the championship of the three presidents. The community has since grown from just three member states to six countries including Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan being the latest entrant.
Other individuals set to receive awards include; the late Mwalimu Julius Nyerere (Tanzania), Mzee Jomo Kenyatta (Kenya) and Dr Apollo Milton Obote (Uganda) under the Life achievement category for having championed the formation of the EAC in 1967.
Meanwhile, this year’s marathon theme is “Addressing Youth Unemployment through Embracing Sports.” According to Gyagenda Semakula, the Afrika Mashariki spokesperson, all proceeds from the marathon shall support initiatives for sustainable utilisation of Lake Victoria and the River Nile Basin.
Registration for the races is ongoing at Nakumatt branches of Oasis Mall, Bugolobi, Bukoto, Acacia and Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA) headquarters at City Hall.
