
The integration within the regional bloc continued to show signs
of discomfort after a second attempt to hold the Heads of States summit
flopped for the second time in three weeks.
The
meeting of the presidents of Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi
and South Sudan, which was scheduled for Thursday, December 27 in
Arusha, was pushed to the first quarter of next year.
Three
weeks ago, Burundi pulled a fast one on its East African Community
partners after it pulled out of both the ministerial and Heads of State
summit occasioning the last minute cancellation of the presidents'
meeting.
A memo to EAC secretariat staff, signed by
Deputy Secretary General Steven Mote last week states that the Heads of
State Summit was postponed because there are on-going consultations on
an appropriate date.
It adds that a new date would be
communicated soon. The Council of Ministers meeting scheduled for
December 20 failed to take place too.
The region's
principal secretaries have already met under the technical committee and
have adopted a report which was supposed to be approved by the minsters
before being presented to the Heads of States for ascent.
The presidents were expected to tackle key issue amongst the
member states with priority being given to resolution of long
outstanding non-tariff barriers; the progress report on the adoption of
Political Confederation as a Transitional Model to the East African
Political Federation.
Other items on the Agenda
include; the roadmap for the accelerated integration of the Republic of
South Sudan into the EAC, and; the verification exercise for the
admission of the Republic of Somalia into the Community.
The
Heads of States are also expected to assent to key Bills including the
EAC Polythene Materials Control Bill, 2018, which will now see the
region have a common framework on the elimination of the use of plastic
bags.
Sources tell The EastAfrican the diplomatic row between Burundi and Rwanda is straining relations of the EAC.
According
to the sources, diplomatic work is necessary if the meeting is to take
place, especially after presidents from the region suffered the
embarrassment of going up to Arusha at the end of November, only to find
out they had no quorum, because Burundi had boycotted.
Chris
Magoba the Spokesperson for the Ministry of East African Community
Affairs says the council of ministers meeting did not take place because
they had no agenda.
“The consultations about the Heads of State Summit may impact on the agenda for the meeting,” he says.
A
change of the agenda from what was up for discussion during the flopped
November 30; Summit could suggest the Heads of States are still
figuring out ways to discuss the Burundi Rwanda row without triggering
split of the EAC.
President Yoweri Museveni had earlier
confirmed in his letter to Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza that
the disagreements between Burundi and Rwanda would be up for discussion
on the December 27, Summit that has since been postponed.
Conflict
While
Rwanda has consistently insisted that it has not interfered and backed
any rebels from Burundi, the government in Bujumbura says otherwise.
According
to Muhamed Habib Mnyaa, a member of the East African Legislative
Assembly (EALA) there are fears that if Burundi and Rwanda’s situation
isn’t handled delicately, it could trigger an EAC collapse like it
happened in 1977.
Currently, Burundians cannot visit
Rwanda. Rwandans cannot visit Burundi either and staff at the EAC who
are not citizens of either countries say Bujumbura is the problem.
As
a result of the disagreement, even officials of the EAC like Martin
Ngoga the Speaker of EALA cannot go to Burundi, as was exemplified
during the inter-parliamentary games that took place at the beginning of
December.
The Rwanda Parliament didn’t take part in
the games that took place in Bujumbura. As a result the
inter-parliamentary games were one partner state short.
The
disagreement between Rwanda and Burundi seems to be dragging in the
other EAC partners, including an incident last week where a group of 350
children from Uganda were stopped from entering Burundi for the African
Zone Scout competition starting December 15 and ending December 20.
The competition usually brings together Ethiopian, Ugandan, Rwandan, Kenyan and Burundian contingents.
Free movement
A source who was part of the delegation tells The EastAfrican
that the Uganda Scout Association had initially intended to travel
through Rwanda and then to Burundi, but were advised against the idea
because the borders between the two countries are closed.
The scouts then resolved to travel through Tanzania.
Although the EAC is supposed to allow for free movement of persons, sources tell The EastAfrican that
Tanzania required that the Uganda Scouts Association gets approval from
Dar es Salaam instead of the traditional immigration stamp that is the
norm for ordinary travellers in the region.
When
approval was finally given, it was with the requirement that the
Tanzanian military provide escort up to the Burundian border.
Richard
Okello the Executive Secretary Uganda Scouts Association says the
Tanzanian military was intended to provided security so that the team
could travel at night.
He however, goes on to admit
that Uganda had provided security to accompany the children, as is the
norm for cases when the scouts have to travel through what can be
considered insecure situations like night or through national parks.
Under age scouts
According
to Mr Okello, the Tanzania military escorted the contingent of mostly
under age scouts through what was supposed to be a short cut to the
Burundian border.
The short cut however, turned out to be longer as the muddy roads led to a breakdown of some of their buses.
The contingent was then forced to push their buses out of the mud and have them repaired.
Another source who was part of the delegation told The EastAfrican
that the Tanzanian military chose to take the Ugandan scouts through a
dry weather road in a rainy season, as a delaying tactic.
When the scouts finally reached the Burundi border, they were told they could not go to the camp in Gitega Burundi.
According
to Mr Okello, Burundian immigration had approved the cross over, but
the Ugandan scouts were stopped by orders from Bujumbura.
Burundian government officials have said Ugandan scouts contingent was stopped because it had civilians carrying guns.
Mr
Okello says these were Ugandan security and it is a norm to travel with
them, as long as the USA feels it needs someone to protect the
children.
“Even in our camp located in Queen Elizabeth
where we need to protect the children against wild life, we go there
with security,” he says.
Bad blood
Some
members of USA believe the refusal to allow Ugandans into the African
Zone Scout competition had to do with the bad blood that appears to be
brewing between Presidents Yoweri Museveni and Pierre Nkurunziza.
The
two Presidents have been exchanging letters over the EAC summit and the
situation in Burundi. In one of his letters President Museveni told
President Nkurunziza that the EAC had a right to ensure Burundi was
peaceful.
President Nkurunziza argues that stability is the business of Burundians.
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