EALA wants stakeholders in the EAC to take advantage of the extra-ordinary opportunities that spur up with the integration process to make it a reality.

EALA Speaker Rt. Hon Daniel F. Kidega made the remarks on 22 July at a reception hosted by the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) in Kampala, Uganda to commemorate the 58th Anniversary of His Highness the Aga Khan’s accession as the 49th hereditary spiritual leader of the Shia Ismaili Muslims (Imamat Day).

The Speaker lauded the AKDN for being an exceptional partner to the region and said the future of the East African Community was bright.

“I want to acknowledge with much satisfaction and gratitude, the contribution of AKDN to the regional development,” Rt. Hon Kidega said.

“AKDN’s history in our region stretches back 100 years and today, you are engaged with each one of the EAC Partner States. The efforts of the Network in education, healthcare, culture, infrastructure development, economic growth, and tourism have benefitted numerous communities,” the Speaker added.

The Speaker hailed his Highness the Aga Khan for being at the forefront of effective development through the institutions of the AKDN.

He assured the AKDN of EALA’s total support with regards to the legal and regulatory environment to smoothen integration.

“In the regard, please feel free to work with us and suggest areas you feel relevant pieces of legislation may strengthen. As the peoples’ Representatives, EALA invites all stakeholders to collaborate closely to strengthen the integration process,” the Speaker noted.

In his remarks, the AKDN Regional Representative, Amb. Mahmood Ahmed spoke of the important role of meritocracy, pluralism and strong civil society in development indicating that “one must not make the mistake of lowering the bar because it’s the developing world, or because it’s Africa”. Noting Uganda’s strong pluralistic tradition he observed that “Harnessing the best in all of us means opening the way for diversity. It means welcoming plurality. Flourishing civilisations and great cultures have thrived because of their openness to diversity”.

The representative said AKDN was committed to improving the lives of the people of Uganda and in the region.

“This work is predicated on the ethic of respect for human dignity. Inherent to dignity is the ability to provide for oneself, to have safety and stability, to have a certain quality of life, to feel confidence and hope in the future, to feel a sense of belonging,” Amb Ahmed said.

The EAC and the AKDN recently penned a Memorandum of Understanding to foster collaboration.

The broad partnership inter alia includes initiatives in employment creation, income generation and poverty reduction in selected regions and sub-regions of the EAC Partner States. It also highlights the need for improvements to standards, quality and delivery of services, particularly in the fields of pre-tertiary and higher education, and healthcare, through public-private partnerships.

Plans around the establishment of Aga Khan University’s principal East African campus in Arusha, Tanzania are well on course with the construction process expected to begin soon and this elicited a positive reaction from the Speaker.

“I am excited at this news. Sitting at the nexus of the EAC, this new campus will host a range of academic programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels which will produce the thinkers, reformers, researchers and indeed transformers who will work towards improving the quality of life of the East African peoples,” Rt. Hon Kidega said.

“The regional University will also set up a number of centres or campuses in each Partner State. We are indeed looking forward to the innovation – which is billed to be an ‘East African institution for East Africans’,” the Speaker added.

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His Highness the Aga Khan is the 49th hereditary Imam (Spiritual Leader) of the Shia Ismaili Muslims and Founder and Chairman of the Aga Khan Development Network. The agencies of the Aga Khan Development Network are private, international, non-denominational development organisations. They work to improve the welfare and prospects of people in 30 countries in the developing world, particularly in Asia and Africa. Their mandates include the environment, health, education, architecture, culture, microfinance, rural development, disaster reduction, the promotion of private-sector enterprise and the revitalisation of historic cities. AKDN agencies conduct their programmes without regard to faith, origin or gender.