EAST African Community (EAC) has so far destroyed about 200,000 tons of illicit small arms and light weapons, among them 200 tons of dangerous explosives in the ongoing operations to ensure that the region was a safe haven.
The EAC Secretary General, Dr Richard Sezibera, revealed that during the occasion to welcome the visiting German President, Mr Joachim Gauck who was addressing selected residents from the five EAC member states in the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) Hall here. Dr Sezibera explained that the exercise which started five years ago is being undertaken through the Peace and Security Protocol, which was recently signed by the five partner states of the EAC is aimed at improving security in the region.
The programme is ongoing and is supported by German Development Agency (GIZ). It is estimated that between 500,000 and one million illegal small arms and light weapons are in circulation in East Africa. Some 300,000 to half a million people around the world are reportedly being killed each year by small arms and light weapons. They are the major cause of civil casualties in modern conflicts.
The German government is also supporting the EAC integration to the tune of over 100 million Euros and President Gauck said EAC was similar to the European Union only that the former has hatched better ways and approach of solving recurrent problems. “The EAC will serve as an exemplary union on the African continent and even the EU itself, despite being older has a lot to learn from the community,” said President Gauck.
German also assisted the EAC in the construction of its headquarters in Arusha and during the president’s tour in Tanzania, the President of the African Court of People and Human Rights, Judge Augustino Ramadhan requested him to see the possibility of helping the court build own premises as well. Judge Ramadhan made the request as President Gauck ended his state visit to Tanzania. The court is currently housed in buildings owned by Tanzania National Parks (TANAPA) in Majengo area, along Dodoma Road in the outskirts of Arusha.
According to Judge Ramadhan, the court and Germany have enjoyed cordial relations for quite some time now. “One of the partners of the African Court was Konrad Adenauer Stiftung organisation which organised the colloquium on the court in Berlin in 2009, then there is GIZ which has been supporting us tremendously, as it funds the African Governance Architecture in which the court is a prominent partner,” said Judge Ramadhan.
The Germany Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), partnered with the African Court, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the Pan-African Parliament (PAP) in setting up the African Governance Architecture to the tune of 14.4 million Euros.
According to the court president, it is the hope of ACHPR, which is the seat for human rights justice in the continent, will ensure that through the AG architecture, the vision of the court of an Africa with a flourishing human rights culture will be realised. On his part, President Gauck lauded Arusha for hosting three tribunals, namely the African Court for Human and People’s Rights, the East African Court of Justice (EACJ) and the United Nations International Tribunal for Rwanda, making the area exemplary for justice in the region.
As for the request to help build the African Court premises, he promised to take the matter before his government, adding that some of the officials who accompanied him to Tanzania have also heard of Judge Ramadhan’s appeal, thus it will be easy to table the issue back home.
With its seat in Arusha, Tanzania, the African Court for Human and Peoples’ Rights so far has eleven judges and 55 members of staff with an operational budget of 7.6 million US dollars.
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