Kenya: Stop EAC complex project
By Zephania Ubwani, Arusha
Kenya wants the construction of the new East Africa Community headquarters in Arusha to be suspended.
Senior officials of the EAC secretariat have confirmed that Kenya has presented its case calling for the construction of the ultra-modern office complex to be put on hold.
Kenya, according to credible sources within the secretariat, was not happy with the pace of negotiations on the EAC Common Market Protocol, and blames Tanzania for the delay in concluding the talks.
The sources said the country's request was formally tabled during the ordinary meeting of EAC Council of Ministers held in Arusha on Friday.
The request, which appeared to have taken Tanzanian officials by surprise, was made shortly before President Paul Kagame of Rwanda addressed the East African Legislative Assembly.
Kenyan officials, led by the minister for East Africa Cooperation, Mr Jeffah Kingi, had asked that the planned construction of the EAC ultra-modern headquarters in Arusha be delayed.
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They said the plans should be shelved until Tanzania was seen to be fully committed to regional integration matters, and that failure to demonstrate its commitment would make the country unfit to host the EAC headquarters."
Sources familiar with what transpired during the meeting said Kenya had been accusing Tanzania of dragging its feet on negotiations for the EAC Common Market Protocol.
The proposal to delay the construction of a new EAC office complex was tabled before the EAC Council of Ministers � the policy organ of the regional bloc � by Mr Kingi.
Sources said the Tanzanian delegation was caught off guard, but argued that the construction of the headquarters could not be suspended as the EAC Treaty clearly stipulated that Arusha was the seat of the EAC secretariat.
The matter is said to have dominated the meeting with Rwanda reportedly supporting Kenya's position, and Uganda and Burundi appearing to be neutral.
Kenyan officials are reported to have said that Tanzania had not demonstrated its "full commitment" to the EAC integration process.
"What we are seeing is the host country of the EAC headquarters going against many protocols agreed upon by all of us," one Kenyan official was heard lamenting in a monitored exchange with other delegates after the closed-door session.
The official said his delegation had called for the construction of the new EAC complex estimated to cost about 14 million euros (about Sh24 billion) to be delayed. The project is scheduled to commence in September, this year.
The regional organisation currently has its headquarters at the Arusha International Conference Centre, which also served as the headquarters of the former EAC, which collapsed in 1977.
The German government has agreed to provide funds for the construction of the complex, which will save the EAC $450,000 (Sh600 million) in monthly rent paid to the AICC.
Officials at the EAC secretariat who were approached for comment indicated that the matter raised by the Kenyan delegation was likely to be forwarded to the EAC Heads of State Summit because of its �sensitivity."
Tanzanian officials are reported to have maintained that the treaty that established EAC had designated the northern Tanzanian town as the headquarters of the regional bloc.
But Kenyan officials and other delegates supporting them insisted that the treaty could as well be amended to suit the region's interest of the day, as had been the case for other issues in recent years. Rwanda was cited as one of the countries that welcomed the proposal.
There was no immediate information on the reaction of the Tanzanian delegation to the suggestion which, if accepted, could deal a blow to Arusha, which has served as the EAC headquarters since the 1960s.
Neither EAC secretary-general Juma Mapachu nor the minister for East African Cooperation, Dr Diodorus Kamala, could be reached yesterday for comment.
Other officials, however, played down the suggestions, saying the matter revolved more around the Common Market negotiations than Arusha as the EAC seat.
When he addressed the EALA on Friday afternoon in his capacity as the chairperson of the EAC Heads of State Summit, President Kagame decried the slow pace in establishing a common market in the region, and called for measures to address the stumbling blocks.
"This is the time for bold steps not only in terms of resolving these outstanding matters that are obstructing the Common Market, but also require us to execute critical decisions we have already made," Mr Kagame said.
The eighth round Common Market Protocol negotiations are expected to commence in Bujumbura, Burundi, today. Tentatively the draft protocol should be ready next April after it was delayed from December last year. Seven negotiation sessions have been held.
The last session of the negotiations ended in Kisumu, Kenya, early this year during which Tanzania was put on the spot for its reservations on some clauses envisaged in the Protocol.
Tanzania, the largest country in size and population has opposed clauses that largely dwell on movement of people and labour services, right of residency and access of its land by non-citizens.
Kenya and Rwanda in particular, have been pressing for a change in the Treaty that established the Community so that key decisions can be adopted if supported by a majority of the member countries.
Under the current EAC Treaty no major decision on regional integration issues can be made without the consent of all the member states. Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, Burundi and Rwanda make up the regional bloc.
Tanzania which has been particularly uncomfortable with the land issues has repeatedly said it was still "studying the situation" and has denied that it was not against the ongoing negotiations or the anticipated benefits from enhanced economic integration within EA.
"We are in the negotiation process. It could be unfair to say that my country is delaying the envisaged Common Market", Mr Uledi Mussa, the head of the country's delegation to the last round of talks in Kisumu, was quoted then as saying.
Kenya's East African Cooperation minister Jeffah Kingi has been vocal that Tanzania was dragging its feet in the integration process and has spearheaded a campaign to have major decisions made without the consent of the neighbouring country.
Tanzanian politicians led by Dr Kamala, on the other hand, have said the country would not be rushed over major decisions that could impact negatively on its own people. The minister has also denied that the country was backtracking on its commitments to the EAC.
Source:
TheCitizen Newspaper