{In a move that is bound to escalate tension within the eastern African bloc, Tanzania, which has lately been cold-shouldered by EAC partners Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda, is seeking stronger economic and trade relations with Burundi and the Democratic republic of Congo (DRC).}
According to The Citizens, the minister for East African Co-operation, Mr Samuel Sitta, said yesterday that Tanzania had not been sitting idle in the light of clear signals that the three East African Community partners had been side-lining it and Burundi.
Mr Sitta said engagement with the DRC was feasible because the country had great economic potential. That’s why, he explained, the government was keen on the railway line project that would connect Uvinza in Kigoma Region to Msongati in the DRC. “Our problem now is that a road linking us to Goma in DRC traverses Rwanda. The Uvinza-Msongati link will solve it, ” he said.
The minister added that, Tanzania-Burundi closeness would be cost-effective for the latter’s business community members, through reliance on the nearer Dar es Salaam port, against the farther Mombasa option by 900 kilometres.
He noted that a Bujumbura businessman who opts for Mombasa port travels 900km more compared to the one who uses Dar port.
For some months now, the Kenya-Uganda-Rwanda triumvirate has been driving the integration agenda to the exclusion of Tanzania and Burundi, with whom they are supposed to operate the five-member EAC grouping. The triumvirate, branded a coalition of the willing, has gone to the extent of discussing a protocol for speeding up the formation of a political federation.
However, Mr Sitta appeared to be cautious when reacting to questions from Members of Parliament, stressing that time was not yet ripe for Tanzania to take bold steps as a reaction to the goings-on in the rest of the bloc.
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