EA Law Society cautions EAC over tripartite (Kenya ,Rwanda & Uganda ) dealings

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EAC Secretary General, Richard Sezibera
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By Anne Mugisa
The East African Law Society (EALS) has asked the EAC Secretary General and the Chairman of the EAC block to involve Tanzania and Burundi in the renewed efforts aimed at improving infrastructure.

The EALS said that Rwanda, Uganda and Kenya have taken the reigns in the renewed efforts for infrastructure improvement within the region, but that the trend could alienate Tanzania and Burundi.

The regional lawyers’ discomfort was contained in the EALS letter to the EAC Secretary General and the EAC block Chairman, President Yoweri Museveni. The letter was signed by the EALS President, James Mwamu.

They cited the trilateral meeting in Kampala at the end of June 2013 at which the three countries identified and assigned themselves roles to follow up on “activities and programs that are traditionally the preserve of the entire EAC partner states.”

The EALS cited the fast tracking the EAC Political federation, expediting the EAC single visa and EAC e-identity card, as well as enhancing the capacity of the Court.

The lawyers, said that though the tri-lateral actions are in line with the EAC principle of variable geometry and have borne commendable results like halving the number of days for goods in transit, Tanzania and Burundi should be co-opted in those efforts.

Otherwise, the EALS said, they run the risk of alienating the two EAC partner states, despite the fact that Tanzania is one of the original founder members of the EAC.

Besides, the EALS said, “the trilateral movement could be wrongly interpreted in the midst of the present conceptual and procedural variances in opinion between Rwanda and Tanzania.”

It pointed out that that they, as the Executive and Policy principals of the regional block, should be working to narrow these variances.

However, no comment on the issue could be got from the President or the Ministers of Foreign Affairs because they were in the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) summit in Kampala.

The 12 member state extra-ordinary summit was convened to discuss the worsening situation in the DRC which was also threatening the region’s security. The EAC Presidents Jakaya Kikwete (Tanzania), Paul Kagame (Rwanda), Uhuru Kenyatta (Kenya), Museveni (Uganda) and Pierre Nkurunziza (Burundi) are at the summi

 

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upuuuzi huu washafanya ya kwao peke yao na yapo on move ndo watu-involve tushaliwa kwa ligha ya town dawa ya moto ni moto tufanye yetu kimyakimya na sisi kusini bana watakuja wenyewe