Ngongo
JF-Expert Member
- Sep 20, 2008
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- 31,176
Dar es Salaam.
Tanzania has snubbed the ongoing Transform Africa Summit in Kigali because it coincides with the "Coalition of the Willing Summit" that has been taking place at the same city, The Citizen has learnt.
The Citizen has learnt that President Jakaya Kikwete was invited to attend the latest Summit but decided not to attend because Tanzania had not been invited to the one on Infrastructure that was organised by the so-called "Coalition of the Willing" which was taking place in Kigali at the same time.
The President chose instead to attend a meeting in London that is being held this week.
The minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Mr Bernard Membe, confirmed to The Citizen yesterday that Rwanda, as the host of the meeting, had extended an invitation to Tanzania but the latter declined because it had not been invited to the Infrastructure Summit that was taking place in the same city.
"It would have been out of place for President Jakaya Kikwete to attend the Transform Africa Summit while his counterparts in the region were attending another summit deliberating on key issues on the region in the same city," Mr Membe told The Citizen in an interview yesterday.
Six African Heads of State from across Africa yesterday joined President Paul Kagame in the meeting he co-hosted with Dr Hamadoun I. Toure, the secretary-general of the International Telecommunication Union.
The Transform Africa Summit started yesterday and runs parallel to the East Africa Infrastructure Summit which started on Monday, attended by Presidents Kagame, Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya and Salva Kiir Mayardit of South Sudan, to discuss infrastructure projects in the region's northern corridor
Presidents attending the Transform Africa Summit, besides Mr Kagame, include: Museveni, Blaise Compaoré of Burkina Faso, Ali Bongo Ondimba of Gabon, Kiir Mayardit, Uhuru, and Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta of Mali.
Twelve African Heads of State, including President Kikwete, had been expected to attend the Transform Africa Summit, aiming to pool resources to set a new agenda for the continent and address development challenges through the use and uptake of ICT and related services
State House Director of Communications Salva Rweyemamu said he was not surprised that Tanzania was not invited to the Infrastructure Summit. "I am not surprised because we have been sidelined from the beginning. All I can confirm is that President Kikwete flew yesterday night (on Monday) to London where he is attending the Open Government meeting," he said.
The director of Economics, Tax And Infrastructure of the ministry of East Africa Community Cooperation Mr George Lauo, told The Citizen yesterday that the infrastructure projects discussed in the Infrastructure Summit were part of EAC agreements in which Tanzania participated fully in the preliminary discussions.
"They keep denying it, but if there's any hidden agenda to push aside Tanzania, time will tell," He mentioned some of the regional projects whose discussions and implementation involved all EAC member states as including the 240 kilometre Arusha-Nairobi road project via Namanga border.
Last week Dar es Salaam strongly reacted to its isolation from the infrastructure talks, accusing the coalition of threatening EAC integration.
"So long as Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda have consciously decided to isolate us, all we can do is to leave them alone and wish them well," the minister for EAC Affairs, Mr Samwel Sitta, said.
Tanzania's isolation puts in limbo its $4.7 billion railway line project linking Dar, Kigali and Burundi, whose construction is scheduled for 2014.
Rwanda and Uganda have given signals on their intent to back Kenya's railway corridor linking both countries, including South Sudan to the Kenyan coast.
In the Tripartite Summit this week Uganda agreed to abolish work permit fees for Kenyans and Rwandan citizens from January 1, 2014 to reduce the cost of doing business and speed up the movement of goods and people.
Source: The Citizen.
Tanzania has snubbed the ongoing Transform Africa Summit in Kigali because it coincides with the "Coalition of the Willing Summit" that has been taking place at the same city, The Citizen has learnt.
The Citizen has learnt that President Jakaya Kikwete was invited to attend the latest Summit but decided not to attend because Tanzania had not been invited to the one on Infrastructure that was organised by the so-called "Coalition of the Willing" which was taking place in Kigali at the same time.
The President chose instead to attend a meeting in London that is being held this week.
The minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Mr Bernard Membe, confirmed to The Citizen yesterday that Rwanda, as the host of the meeting, had extended an invitation to Tanzania but the latter declined because it had not been invited to the Infrastructure Summit that was taking place in the same city.
"It would have been out of place for President Jakaya Kikwete to attend the Transform Africa Summit while his counterparts in the region were attending another summit deliberating on key issues on the region in the same city," Mr Membe told The Citizen in an interview yesterday.
Six African Heads of State from across Africa yesterday joined President Paul Kagame in the meeting he co-hosted with Dr Hamadoun I. Toure, the secretary-general of the International Telecommunication Union.
The Transform Africa Summit started yesterday and runs parallel to the East Africa Infrastructure Summit which started on Monday, attended by Presidents Kagame, Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya and Salva Kiir Mayardit of South Sudan, to discuss infrastructure projects in the region's northern corridor
Presidents attending the Transform Africa Summit, besides Mr Kagame, include: Museveni, Blaise Compaoré of Burkina Faso, Ali Bongo Ondimba of Gabon, Kiir Mayardit, Uhuru, and Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta of Mali.
Twelve African Heads of State, including President Kikwete, had been expected to attend the Transform Africa Summit, aiming to pool resources to set a new agenda for the continent and address development challenges through the use and uptake of ICT and related services
State House Director of Communications Salva Rweyemamu said he was not surprised that Tanzania was not invited to the Infrastructure Summit. "I am not surprised because we have been sidelined from the beginning. All I can confirm is that President Kikwete flew yesterday night (on Monday) to London where he is attending the Open Government meeting," he said.
The director of Economics, Tax And Infrastructure of the ministry of East Africa Community Cooperation Mr George Lauo, told The Citizen yesterday that the infrastructure projects discussed in the Infrastructure Summit were part of EAC agreements in which Tanzania participated fully in the preliminary discussions.
"They keep denying it, but if there's any hidden agenda to push aside Tanzania, time will tell," He mentioned some of the regional projects whose discussions and implementation involved all EAC member states as including the 240 kilometre Arusha-Nairobi road project via Namanga border.
Last week Dar es Salaam strongly reacted to its isolation from the infrastructure talks, accusing the coalition of threatening EAC integration.
"So long as Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda have consciously decided to isolate us, all we can do is to leave them alone and wish them well," the minister for EAC Affairs, Mr Samwel Sitta, said.
Tanzania's isolation puts in limbo its $4.7 billion railway line project linking Dar, Kigali and Burundi, whose construction is scheduled for 2014.
Rwanda and Uganda have given signals on their intent to back Kenya's railway corridor linking both countries, including South Sudan to the Kenyan coast.
In the Tripartite Summit this week Uganda agreed to abolish work permit fees for Kenyans and Rwandan citizens from January 1, 2014 to reduce the cost of doing business and speed up the movement of goods and people.
Source: The Citizen.
