President Jakaya Kikwete walks alongside Rwandan President Paul Kagame
(left) and Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza (centre) as they arrive
for the EAC 14th Ordinary Summit of Heads of State in Nairobi in 2012.
PHOTO | AFP
By Tom Mosoba, The Citizen
Posted Friday, November 29 2013 at 22:33
Posted Friday, November 29 2013 at 22:33
In Summary
- In an interview with The Citizen yesterday, Minister for East African Cooperation Samuel Sitta declared Tanzania was satisfied with the steps the EAC Heads of State Summit will be endorsing today as it brings the integration process back on track.
Kampala. The five East African
Community Heads of State are set to officially consign to the dustbin of
history the spectre of the “Coalition of the Willing” which, for three
months or so, threatened to derail regional integration efforts.
The ice was broken yesterday, with the EAC Council
of Ministers putting pen to paper on an agreement that reinforces the
commitment of all the partner states to forging regional unity and
promoting development.
The agreement reached by the Ministerial Council,
which is the policy arm of the community, will today be presented to
Presidents Jakaya Kikwete (Tanzania), Yoweri Museveni (Uganda), Uhuru
Kenyatta (Kenya), Paul Kagame (Rwanda) and Pierre Nkurunziza (Burundi)
for final endorsement and signing at the Commonwealth Resort in
Munyonyo.
The presidents were expected to arrive in Kampala
last evening and this morning for the summit. They will also preside
over the signing of the Single Monetary Union Protocol, the third for
the EAC after the Customs Union and the Common Market
.
.
They will later today address a rally at Kololo
historical grounds to show their unity and respond to other challenges
facing the region.
The Council of Ministers agreement, which outlines
the way forward on some of the controversial decisions that led to the
emergence of the Coalition of the Willing was reached after two days of
consultations among the ministers, backed by their bureaucrats and those
from the EAC headquarters.
The ministers adopted a common stand on a road map
for rolling out political federation, the single custom area and the
monetary union and other regional projects.
These projects emerged as a bone of contention
when Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda made a move to fast track them without
Tanzania and Burundi--which then protested that they had been
sidelined.
The negotiations that led to today’s turning point were drawn-out and turned nasty at one point.
Tanzanian minister for EAC integration Samuel
Sitta had to apologise for taking a swipe at his Ugandan counterpart,
who is the outgoing chairman of the Council of Ministers, Mr Sam
Bageine.
The government-owned New Vision newspaper revealed
yesterday how the ministers clashed, with Mr Sitta taking Mr Bageine
head-on over suggestions that he was biased when it came to the
Coalition of the Willing.
Mr Sitta was joined by Burundi’s EAC minister
Leontine Nzeyimana, who also protested the handing over of the regional
chairmanship to President Uhuru Kenyatta instead of Rwanda’s Paul
Kagame.
According to the newspaper, the problem arose when Mr Bageine
tabled a report saying more than 80 per cent of the council’s decisions
had been agreed upon by the members.
Tanzania and Burundi complained bitterly about the
Coalition of the Willing and questioned why some agreed matters were
not followed to the letter.
In the heat of the moment, Mr Sitta asked why Mr
Bageine was quiet amid the accusations, supposedly like “a cat satisfied
with the milk”
The remark riled Ugandan Foreign Affairs minister
Sam Kutesa, who demanded an apology. Mr Sitta did so but not before a
rebuke from the Kenyan delegation, which accused him of hijacking the
debate.
In an interview with The Citizen
yesterday, Mr Sitta declared that Tanzania was satisfied with the steps
that the Summit will be endorsing today as it brings the integration
process back on track.
“We are actually happy the summit has taken place
this time and hope the five presidents will clear the air tomorrow
(today) and end the prevailing suspicions,” he said.
The Kenyan and Ugandan delegations reported that
the sticking points had been sorted out and the countries were once
again looking forward to a rejuvenated and more united EAC.
The economic affairs commissioner, Mr Rashid
Kibowa, said Uganda had no serious issues with the integration process
and was ready to move in tandem with the rest of the community
He added: “Our position is not any different. We don’t have any contentious issues to sort out.”
A member of the Kenyan delegation confirmed that
the five countries had agreed to enjoin each other in infrastructure
projects and also on negotiations on any other regional matters.
Minister Sitta said it was positive that member
countries had officially approved all the steps on political federation
and the single customs area. It will now be sealed by the five
presidents and rolled out
.
According to Mr Sitta, Kenya had also agreed to
drop a 1.5 per cent rise in import taxes against the current rate set
under the Common External Tarif.
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