{{The East African Community heads of state of Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda are scheduled to meet later this month in Kigali amid growing concerns about Tanzania’s apparent isolation by the “coalition of the willing”.}}
Rwandan President Paul Kagame will host his Kenyan and Ugandan counterparts, Mr Uhuru Kenyatta and Mr Yoweri Museveni, respectively, on October 28 and 29 to discuss joint infrastructure projects, Tanzania media reported.
On the agenda will be the planned Mombasa-Kampala-Kigali standard-gauge railway, an oil pipeline connecting the three countries, an oil refinery and construction of a modern port in Lamu, Kenya.
It was reported last weekend that divisions within the EAC had deepened after Burundi said it was not party to the “coalition of the willing” that has left Tanzania out.
Some prominent government and business leaders have said Tanzania has been increasingly isolated by Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda, whose leaders have met on a number of occasions in recent months.
But EAC Secretary-General Richard Sezibera said in Nairobi Monday that he was not aware that Tanzania had been sidelined or isolated from the regional integration process.
The Rwandan national said alliances among some EAC partner states that excluded Tanzania were not proof that the largest country in the bloc was being systematically isolated by its partners.
“From the secretariat point of view, we are not aware. I can’t say if Tanzania has been sidelined or is a reluctant partner in the bloc,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the EAC Secretary-General’s Forum.
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