Talks are at an advanced stage to establish the East African Community (EAC) Security Council, which will be charged with ensuring that peace prevails in the region.
All five EAC member states–Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi–currently face security threats, with terrorism topping the list.
Kenya has borne the brunt of terrorist attacks from Al Shabaab since it sent troops to assist the Somali government in late 2011.
The attacks have left hundreds dead and many others injured. Grenades have been hurled into commuter buses, churches have been raided and a big shopping mall was under siege for three days in that country.
Tanzania has also suffered its share of attacks, especially in the tourist hubs of Zanzibar and Arusha.
Two blasts rocked Arusha last month alone. In the first attack, a hand grenade was thrown into a residential house in Majengo area and seriously injured two Muslim clerics who were having a pre-fast Ramadhan meal.
In the second attack, by an improvised explosive device, eight people were injured at an Asian restaurant near Gymkhana grounds.
In 2008 Tanzania suffered the first major terrorist attack when the US embassy was bombed.
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