TAKE PRESIDENT JAKAYA KIKWETE’S WORD AND GET ON WITH PENDING EAC MATTERS
It is now hoped that his colleagues Uhuru Kenyatta, Yoweri Museveni and
Paul Kagame will do whatever is necessary to meet him halfway to ensure
the regional block moves forward together.
Kikwete told Tanzanian MPs last week that his country will never quit the EAC.
The planned tripartite free trade area incorporating EAC with the Common
Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and Southern African
Development Community (SADC), makes the union between the East African
leaders all the more important.
The fact that Tanzania ditched Comesa as a condition for joining SADC
despite the presence of some other members states who are in both trade
blocks, makes the negotiations hard enough without having to add
unnecessary differences among EAC leaders.
Differences that could be easily overcome with a bit of give and take on
all sides, as long as there is mutual good will. And there is no reason
why there should not be.
To his credit, Kikwete has already set the ball rolling by outlining
four of the eight issues the “coalition of the willing” has been dealing
with, which his country has no quarrel with, because they do not fall
under the EAC protocol.
These are the building of a standard gauge railway from Mombasa to
Kigali and South Sudan; a pipeline from Mombasa to South Sudan and from
Eldoret to Uganda and Rwanda; a petroleum refinery in Uganda; and
production and distribution of electricity. Kikwete’s indications that
these projects would be beneficial to his country were it to be included
might be significant.
Perhaps, the other presidents should take him at his word, and invite
his country to join in as long as it does not result in unreasonable
delays.
Contentious issues
Tanzania said the other countries should not have unilaterally decided
to deal with four issues before the respective regional ministers
completed and handed in their reports.
These include use of national IDs as travel documents, a political
federation, a single tourist visa and a single tourist territory.
It would be in everyone’s interest to get Tanzania on board on these
issues, as long as it can lead to the setting down of a clear time-table
and achievable deliverable.
The need to bring Tanzania back into the EAC fold would make it easier
to woo and to integrate the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) into the
East African fold before sitting down to negotiate with South Africa
which is at long last realizing that it needs to go beyond its immediate neighbors to meet its growth targets.
Going into such negotiations without a unity of purpose would only serve
to weaken the East African hand. It would also benefit South Africa,
which many observers have long accused of having had a hand in the
bolting of Tanzania from Comesa, as a way of attempting to build a trade
wall against Kenya.
Hakuna maoni:
Chapisha Maoni