TANZANIA and Rwanda have agreed to form a joint implementation committee (JIC) to closely monitor important areas of bilateral relations between the two countries that were agreed in the just concluded 14th session of the Joint Permanent Commission (JPC).
The JIC will be led by permanent
secretaries in the foreign ministries from both countries and will be
meeting in every quarter of each year, according to Head of
Communications in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, East African,
Regional and International Cooperation, Ms Mindi Kasiga.
The two-day session of the JPC meeting,
which ended on Sunday, was held in the resort town of Rubavu in the
Western Province of Rwanda. Among other issues, the JPC agreed to
bolster bilateral ties in various key sectors, including strengthening
relationship in the aviation sector, especially between the two
countries’ national airlines—Rwandair and Air Tanzania Company Limited
(ATCL).
The meeting also agreed to fast-track
infrastructure development on the central corridor, which combines road
and railway network, as an essential trade and transport route, linking
the two countries with neighbouring Burundi, Uganda and the eastern part
of Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
Ms Kasiga, who was addressing a news
conference in Dar es Salaam, said the meeting also agreed to increase
the pace on the construction of the envisaged multi-trillion shilling
standard gauge central railway line project.
The 14th JPC meeting came following the
directives issued by President John Magufuli and his Rwandan counterpart
Paul Kagame in Kigali last month during Dr Magufuli’s maiden trip
outside the country since he was elected into office last October.
During Dr Magufuli’s state visit, the
two presidents pledged to strengthen the two countries’ relations to
enable their citizens to work together for shared benefits and
development.
The JPC meeting brought together experts
from various sectors in the two countries and gave participants an
opportunity to review the status of the bilateral relations with a view
to boosting the ties.
The Tanzanian team was led by the Deputy
Permanent Secretary in the ministry of Foreign Affairs, East African,
Regional and International Cooperation, Ambassador Ramadhan Mwinyi,
while the Rwandan team was under the leadership of Permanent Secretary
in the Rwanda’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Ambassador
Jeanine Kambanda.
Officials also reviewed recommendations
of the 13th bilateral meeting that took place in 2011 in Tanzania and
agreed that, five years on, not much had been done in implementation of
the recommendations, a move that prompted the formation of a Joint
Implementation Committee.
“The Rwandan government has expressed
its readiness to bring in our country officers and other government
officials with an aim to equip them with experience from professional
colleges like the Tanzania-Zambia Centre for Foreign Relations (CFR) and
the National Institute of Transport, among others,’’ noted Ms Kasiga.
The 15th JPC meeting would be held in
2018 in Tanzania. Meanwhile, Ms Kasiga said another joint meeting of
permanent secretaries from Tanzania and Zambia was conducted between
April 25 and 27 in Lusaka, Zambia to deliberate on the proper mechanism
to solve the challenges encountered at Nakonde border in Tunduma in the
newly-established Songwe Region.
“The two countries agreed that the
matter be solved by conducting regular inspections and joint defence
including exchange of appropriate security information between the two
countries,’’ she said.
On the ongoing Burundi political
impasse, Ms Kasiga said her ministry was making arrangements to seek
audience with former President Benjamin Mkapa so that he could give a
briefing on the ongoing mediation efforts. In March this year, Mr Mkapa
was appointed by the East African Community (EAC) as facilitator of
peace talks between rival factions in volatile Burundi.
The announcement was made during the
17th Ordinary Summit of EAC heads of state in Arusha, Tanzania. The
former president was expected to discharge his duties under the
leadership of President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda.
“We are still making efforts to reach
the former president to request him to make a press briefing, the
ministry will issue an official communication to you to explain if he
will address the media in Arusha or Dar es Salaam,’’ said Ms Kasiga.
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