The breadth and scope of East African Community’s regional integration reforms is large and includes the implementation of the EAC Customs Union the EAC Common Market and the EAC Monetary Union. For Partner States to be able to effectively coordinate EAC’s projects and programmes Article 3.a of the Treaty of Establishment of the EAC requires for all member countries to: ‘designate a Ministry with which the Secretary General may communicate in connection with any matter arising out of the implementation or the application of this Treaty’. Many Partner States have interpreted this provision by creating stand-alone Ministries of East African Community.

This is to provide relevant capacities and resources to the matter and speed-up implementation. South Sudan followed suit. Article 1.10 of the Revitalized Agreement on Resolution of Conflict in South Sudan (R-ARCSS) mandated the creation of such a stand-alone Ministry of East African Community Affairs and place this Ministry in the Governance Cluster of the Government of South Sudan.  The Ministry of East African Community was formed along with the Transitional Government of National Unity in February 2020. The Ministry aims to coordinate all reforms related to the EAC and leads the streamlining South Sudan’s regional integration with EAC Partners. In July, 2020 Hon. Deng Alor was appointed as the Minister East African Community Affairs.