University students begin EAC awareness campaign

Five students from Kenya have embarked on a one-week trip to the East African region on a mission to educate their counterparts on EAC integration.

The quintet, who won the just concluded the Ministry of the East African Community (MEAC) inter-university social media challenge, will first visit Burundi then Rwanda, Uganda and finally do a presentation on the use of social media at the EAC Secretariat headquarter in Arusha, Tanzania.

The students Raphael Mbatha, Paul Mwangi, Fredrick Onyancha, Mercy Chebet and Eric Munene will tour the East Africa region from February 3rd – 9th, 2013.

According to the EAC Permanent Secretary, Mr Chiboli Shakaba, the students will visit all the MEACs in the Partner States and also do a short presentation on how to use social media to create awareness on EAC integration amongst the university students.

“This is the first time the Ministry of the East African Community is carrying out such a initiative. As a Ministry, we look forward to Kenyans and all citizenry of East Africa to be aware of the benefits and opportunities of the EAC Integration,” notes Mr Shakaba.

Among the universities where the students will be making a presentation are Kigali Institute of Science and Technology, the University of Burundi among other universities in the Partner States.

The trip is geared towards raising the awareness of the EAC integration process and how students can use social media platform to learn on the EAC integration, its benefits and opportunities.

The campaign that ran for three months was funded by TradeMark East Africa at Kshs5.5 million.

cap:George Mugunga, a participant, shows his prize recently. courtesy pHOTO