By Peter Elias
Summary
· In the recent past, Arusha’s international allure started to waiver but efforts by President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s administration have seen Arusha rise back to its former prestige
Dar es Salaam. At the dawn of
independence, in 1960, Nairobi was the regional hub.
Not
only was it the most developed city hosting East Africa’s headquarters
of multinationals, but it had also been hosting the colonially-engineered
regional organization, the East African High Commission (EAHC), and its
affiliate organizations, since January 1, 1948.
When
the EAHC had to be transformed into a new body, the East African Common
Services Organization (EACSO), at Tanganyika’s independence on December 9,
1961, Nairobi was the natural choice for its headquarters.
Arusha, though a tourist town of
national importance, had yet to become a regional Safari hub, a position that
was being held by Nairobi, despite its close proximity to world-renowned
tourist attractions.
But
Arusha’s fortunes changed when East African leaders- Julius Nyerere of
Tanzania, Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya and Milton Obote of Uganda- chose the town to
host the first East African Community (EAC-I).
A
confluence of subsequent factors cemented Arusha’s position as a regional hub of choice.
The
announcement of the Arusha Declaration, Nyerere’s socio-economical and
philosophical developmental blueprint that reverberated across the world as an
African revolutionary manifesto, further focused global attention on the town.
When
the Kilimanjaro International Airport (KIA) was established in 1971, Arusha
started hosting international conferences and forums that further cemented the
town’s global status and its tourist credentials.
Even
though the EAC founding fathers had no intention of making Arusha a regional
hub, as their decision to spread out the headquarters of EAC institutions among
EAC capital cities indicated, Arusha was already on its way to international
status.
“It
is true that the decision to make Arusha the headquarters of the first East
African Community (EAC-I) changed Arusha’s fortunes for the better,” Mr
Apolinary Tairo, a seasoned journalist who has lived in Arusha and has covered
the city extensively over the years, says.
“…
But Arusha was always going to be a natural international hub. That is why,
when the EAC-I collapsed, the town’s international stature was not dented. In
fact, it continued to rise,” Mr Tairo adds.
He
notes that the closure of the Kenya-Tanzania border in March 1977 averted
Arusha’s decline and, ironically, cut the town’s image as an offshoot of
Nairobi.
“Instead
of landing in Nairobi and proceeding by vehicle to Arusha, tourists had to come
directly to Arusha through KIA or through Dar es Salaam, which saw the town’s
global stature evolve in a unique way, separately from Nairobi,” Mr Tairo
noted.
When
the international community was looking for an ideal city to host the
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in 1994, Arusha was easily chosen.
This
came after the city had hosted peace negotiations by Rwanda’s warring factions
since the early 1990s.
The
city went on to provide the venue for the Burundi peace negotiations later on.
When
East African presidents decided to re-establish the Community (EAC-II) in 1999,
Arusha was the ideal headquarters.
Despite
an agreement to spread out the Community’s organs and institutions among EAC
member states, most of them found homes in Arusha.
These
include the East African Legislative Assembly (Eala), the East African Court of
Justice (EACJ), the East African Business Council (EABC), and the East African
Community Competition Authority (EACA).
The
return of the EAC to Arusha further reinvigorated Arusha’s international
stature, such that at the start of the millennium, Bill Clinton, the first
sitting American President to visit Tanzania, crowned the town as the Geneva of
Africa.
In
the recent past, especially between 2016 and 2021, Arusha’s global status
started to waiver.
Seemingly
sensing the opportunity, Rwandan authorities started positioning Kigali as the
regional hub for international meetings and conferences. The Covid-19 pandemic
added to Arusha’s woes.
But
efforts by President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s administration have seen Arusha
rising back to its former prestige.
Tourism
has rebounded beyond pre-pandemic levels. International conferences and forums
are now back-to-back and international organizations are opting for the town as
their headquarters.
Currently,
the Pan African Postal Union (PAP) is building its headquarters in Arusha. At
least 21 continental, regional, and international organizations call Arusha
home, excluding EAC institutions.
They
include the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR), the Centre on
Integrated Rural Development for Africa (CIRDA), the African Society of
International Law (AfSIL), the African Union Advisory Board Against Corruption
(AU-ABC), the East Africa Local Governments Association (EALGA), and the East
African Meteorological Society (EAfMS).
Others
are the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT), which
is currently wounding up its operations, the College of Surgeons of East,
Central and Southern Africa (COSECSA), the Coalition for an Effective African
Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the African Court Coalition), the College
of Pathologists of Central Eastern & Southern Africa (COPECSA); and the
East African Integrated Disease Surveillance Network (EAIDSNet).
And
yet other international organizations are the All Africa Lutheran Churches
Information and Coordination Centre (AL-ICE), the African Institute of
International Law (AIIL), and the East African Civil Society Organisations’
Forum (EACSOF).
On
the list are also institutions such as the Eastern and Southern African Management
Institute (ESAMI); the East African Youth Council; the Eastern African Support
Unit for NGOs; the East African Securities Regulatory Authorities (EASRA) and
the Central and Southern African Health Community (ECSA).
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