{The third East Africa Community Heads of State summit on infrastructure was last night called off indefinitely. Deputy President William Ruto had earlier in the day opened the meeting taking place in Nairobi. }
President Uhuru Kenyatta had been expected to officially open the meeting but was said to have been engaged elsewhere. No reason was given for the sudden cancellation of the summit.
It was also not clear if Tanzania’s President Jakaya Kikwete, who has been unwell, would have attended.
Opening the council of ministers meeting, Ruto warned member-states against getting bogged down in “petty jealousies” among themselves and instead look at the benefits of full integration.
He said mega EAC projects across individual countries borders are the way to go. He also warned against “fragmented markets”, saying they will not take any country anywhere.
The summit began Saturday with keynote address by Africa Development Bank President Donald Kaberuka and addresses by World Bank-Africa Vice President Makhtar Diop, UNCTAD Secretary General Dr Mukhisa Kituyi and European Union Ambassador to EAC Filiberto Ceriani.
The five heads of states for the community- Uhuru Kenyatta (Kenya), Yoweri Museveni (Uganda), Paul Kagame (Rwanda), Pierre Nkurunziza (Burudi) and Kikwete were to attend the summit. “We must now go beyond the petty jealousies. We must look at the bigger picture. We are good separated but we can be better together,” Ruto said to a thunderous applause of delegates. Last year, there had been unease in the community following Kikwete’s famous “coalition of the willing” remarks during which he accused other EAC members of excluding his country in joint events.
“We hear that when some people are asked why Tanzania is not invited, they say: ‘Tanzania would join later’ – that this is a coalition of the willing. But we have never been invited,” Kikwete told Tanzanian MPs in a speech broadcast on national radio and TV. During yesterday’s meeting, Ruto said the community needs $100 billion in the next 10 years to complete the prioritised infrastructural projects spanning across the five countries.
Read more at: STANDARD MEDIA
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