It is time now for East African community to be own by East African people not politicians don't repeat the previous mistake. I listen to the speech but, MR President did not spell out why Tanzania is dragging there feet to full integration. President need to be straight not to listen to street gossip ! It is high time for Bongo land to make its decision not to make the EAC community hostage as I know DR Jakaya the good Diplomat can tackle this issue better than go to the parliament to talk against the coalition of willing .
Why Mr President is critical of the coalition of the willing when he speak at the parliament today ? every one Know Jakaya has been , and this is what our source at the Ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi informed us, to “severe any links with the kenyan facing crimes against humanity.” Chama Cha Mapinduzi ruling party in Tanzania was there last when ODM had its national convention in Kasarani where father of modern democracy was declared the party’s flag bearer. Raila Odinga but what is the out come of CCM losing partner in Nairobi CORD now in opposition now put East Africa on crisis !
Until Kikwete’s spat with Kagame over the Congo crisis, the powder keg of this part of the pangea, the political tectonics of the region put him at par with Yoweri Museveni, especially insofar as geopolitical balance of this restive region is concerned. Yoweri and Kagame are chips of the same bloc. Both came to power through the gun, and both are using the gun (primarily) and the ballot (secondarily) to hung on to power. But Kikwete is a different leader. Tanzania’s socialist history has maintained a highly cohesive country, with power seen as a true expression of the people.
Jakaya Kikwete is no Museveni, Kagame, Yoweri or Uhuru. While Kenya’s political problem is the runaway ethnic greed and hegemony called tribalism, Rwanda is an emerging ‘muted democracy’ and Uganda has resigned to the gods and cows of Museveni. Tanzania, on the other hand, has neither of these. Meaning, the land of Julius Nyerere remains the only true example of a socialist democracy where the race to the top has not been ‘mafianised’ as is here at home. go back to Kenya fiasco on the day the National Accord was signed into Law, the name Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete found its way into the Kenyan political lexicon. Increasingly, Kikwete was a dominant player in the Kenyan political chessboard, bringing a swift end to the power struggle between the ODM leader Raila Amolo Odinga and PNU’s Mwai Kibaki. Both Kibaki and Raila are currently out of government (though Kibaki is still supra-president) and while Raila remains in active politics, Kibaki is nursing Lucy or playing golf or doing whatever he is doing.
Tanzania will play its part in ensuring a stronger East African Community as envisioned in the treaty that revived the regional body, Cabinet minister George Mkuchika said. Mr Mkuchika, the minister of State in the President’s office for Good Governance, was speaking in Bujumbura on Friday at the end of the 19th meeting of the Sectoral Council of Ministers responsible for EAC Affairs and Planning.
"The biggest obligation before us is to ensure this cooperation produces results that will improve the livelihoods of the people of East Africa," the minister said in a statement."This will be attained by committing ourselves to implementing decisions and directives that arise through these meetings."It was the first time that a Tanzanian minister was attending a top level EAC meeting since questions were raised over the country’s commitment to the unity of the five member countries.
On Wednesday, East African Cooperation minister Samuel Sitta told Parliament in Dodoma that government officials had been advised against taking part in regional meetings until an explanation was forthcoming on the tripartite meetings championed by Rwanda, Kenya and Uganda.Mr Sitta, who said Tanzania felt "shortchanged" by these meetings, revealed that a higher authority--implying President Jakaya Kikwete--had told Foreign Affairs minister Bernard Membe not to attend a ministerial council meeting held in Nairobi last week.
Disintegration fears
The minister himself said he had directed his deputy, Dr Abdullah Abdullah, to give Thursday’s Bujumbura meeting a miss. It was not immediately clear if it was this same meeting that Mr Mkuchika attended.His statement made no mention of the current challenges in the bloc or Tanzania’s stand on the Coalition of the Willing--a name coined to describe the tri-lateral arrangement by Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda."East African cooperation will be attained by committing ourselves to implementing what has been jointly agreed," he added.Fears that the EAC could disintegrate rose after Mr Sitta said Tanzania was thinking of forming a rival coalition with Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo to counter the grouping of the other three partner states.Leader of the Opposition Freeman Mbowe, also speaking in the same Parliament, cautioned against abandoning the idea of regional integration.
EAC boss Richard Sezibera weighed in on the debate on Friday in Bujumbura, saying the concerns raised by Tanzania and Burundi did not necessarily mean a falling-out was on the cards.The secretary general said at the end of the meeting that the secretariat had consulted the five partner states on the state of EAC integration.He added: "East Africans are urged not to be unduly be alarmed because the challenges are being addressed and will be further considered at the forthcoming high level meetings of the Community. There have been persistent press reports, including misrepresentation of the matter.”
Reluctant
Officials of the Arusha-based Secretariat have been reluctant to discuss the new developments in the region. But one of them confided in The Citizen on Sunday that a lot more would emerge during the coming Heads of State Summit in Kampala, which will be preceded by the ministerial and other meetings of senior officials.Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta on Tuesday also allayed fears that EAC could be headed for collapse. He said all the five EAC member States were committed to integration."We are focused in our objective of uniting the region and making it prosperous,” he said. “In fact, we are looking forward to our brothers and sisters from South Sudan joining us soon to make our regional bloc stronger.”According to Mr Kenyatta, the fast-tracking of the Northern Corridor infrastructure projects by Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda arose from the need to solve the problem of cargo transportation from Mombasa to Kampala and Kigali.The coming together of Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan was aimed at addressing the four countries’ unique needs but was not in any way meant to undermine the EAC integration process, he added President Kenyatta was speaking at a meeting with Kenyans working and living in Rwanda.Rwandese leader Paul Kagame was expected to take over the chairmanship of the bloc from President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda.
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