{Towards the end of November of every year, leaders of the five East African Community member states convene in one of the five regional capitals to hold their summit, called the Heads of State Summit. And this has been the case since 1999 when the East African Cooperation treaty was signed. }
This year was supposed to be special because the region was marking 15 years since the treaty was signed. Surprisingly, the presidents did not meet on Nov. 30 and the summit was postponed indefinitely.
The official reason is that Tanzania’s President Jakaya Kikwete—who only arrived in Tanzania on Nov. 29—was unable to attend because he is recovering from prostate cancer surgery—a medical procedure he underwent at the Johns Hopkins Hospital in the US state of Maryland on Nov. 8.
Although medical procedures like a prostate surgery are usually scheduled, the postponement of the summit appears to have been abrupt. The venue of the summit had been set, pavilions built, sitting areas arranged, and decorations put up in Nairobi.
According to Richard Sezibera, the EAC Secretary General, consultations are now underway with Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta, the current chairperson and his counterparts across the region to reschedule the summit. Sezibera told The Nation that the summit had many issues on the agenda besides handing over the chairmanship from Kenyatta to Kikwete.
And according to the now suspended Margaret Zziwa, the summit being postponed to a later date is valid because only two of the five members had confirmed attendance, so the Secretariat had to postpone the event.
However, Phyllis Kandie, Kenya’s EAC Affairs Cabinet Secretary told Kenyan media that the meeting of regional leaders focusing on the Northern Corridor Infrastructure is still scheduled to take place, Dec.10-11.
Yet despite the official narrative, many still wonder why the summit stalled at a critical time when the region was commemorating a milestone of 15 years.
The postponement of the summit came just days after EALA members sat in Nairobi and passed a resolution suspending Margaret Zziwa, the Ugandan Speaker of EALA whom fellow members accuse of a plethora of vices.
See more at: http://independent.co.ug
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