As East African states move towards the formalisation of the East African Community, Kenya has promised to champion the integration of the cultural heritage among communities whose traditional values stretch across its borders to increase unity between member states.

Speaking at the commissioning of a cultural community centre at Sangallo village in South Bungoma County in Bungoma District, Kenya last week, Kenya’s Foreign Affairs minister Moses Wetangula said Kenya is at the centre of formalising external relations with communities with similar tradition with its neighbouring states to establish an early social-economic and political relations ahead of the EAC.

Mr Wetangula said: “The regional integration process is at a high pitch at the moment as reflected by the encouraging progress of the East African Customs Union and the establishment of the Common Market in 2010. Kenya is now at the forefront of establishing external relations with its neighbours and the first step is to institute cultural institutions with communities with similar values with those in Kenya.”

The Bamasaba cultural leader, Mr Wilson Wamimbi, who was chief guest at the function, said Uganda was the pioneer of developing community cultural affairs in EA in the early 1960s but that due to poor leadership then, the system collapsed although several of such centres are still dormant in many parts of the country.