Officially, the Democratic Republic of Congo is now a member of the East African Community.
After the signing of the treaty of the incorporation of the DRC, a new map emerged of the new member states.
However, the initial omission of the Zanzibar islands (Pemba and Ugunja) from the map raised eyebrows.
The islands of Pemba and Ugunja, which are parts of Tanzania were having their prints missing from the Map.
Uproar twit
The omission claim raised by Tanzanian outspoken politician Zitto Zuberi forced the community to pull down and replace the initially approved map.
Dear @jumuiya this map is incomplete. Zanzibar isn’t in the map. There is no Tanzania without Zanzibar. May you please correct the error
Zitto
Zitto reacted to the omissions of the islands on his Twitter post and urged the maps to be re-drawn.
“Dear @jumuiya this map is incomplete. Zanzibar isn’t in the map. There is no Tanzania without Zanzibar. May you please correct the error,” read the tweet.
A new map has since been unveiled incorporating the islands omitted earlier.
The treaty was signed on April 8, 2022, in Nairobi by President Uhuru Kenyatta, who is the chairperson of the EAC.
The ceremony was witnessed by Felix Tshisekedi, president of the DRC who also signed the accession.
Also present were Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame.
The DRC have until September 29, 2022, to approve the treaty and submit signed approvals to the secretariat.
With the inclusion of the DRC, EAC members state rise to seven, including three founding members Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.
DRC adds to other members Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan.
