Kagame in bid to get results as EAC chair

Arusha. Rwandan President Paul Kagame is out to inject a sense of urgency in the delivery of the East African Community (EAC) agenda, convening an unprecedented retreat for the regional body’s Council of Ministers and heads of its organs and institutions.

Rwanda’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation is organising what is says is a “strategic retreat” to brainstorm, plan and strategise on how EAC can better deliver value on its core objectives.

President Kagame took over as EAC chairman in February and through the retreat, according to the ministry, wants partner states and EAC organs to “renew their commitment to the vision, mission, objectives and strategies of the community, with a view to accelerating the integration agenda”.

Rwanda feels that remarkable strides by the regional body over the last 20 years were being tested by challenges related to implementation of the customs union and common market, administrative and financial management of EAC, coordination of its institutions as well as the role for peace, security and stability in the region.

Although retreats of senior officials are not new in EAC, with the previously held ones focusing mainly on infrastructure development, this is the first time it is convened and sponsored by a partner state and with a wider agenda.

Political pundits were quick to say the Rwandan leader wants to leave a mark akin to when he recently stepped down as the chairman of the African Union where he championed reforms. In February, Mr Kagame promised to steer the community to a new era in inter-state relations.

The retreat is slated for Friday this week in the nation’s capital Kigali.

Although the event mirrors countless meetings of high-ranking officials from the region, it has come at a time the region has just witnessed the darkest moments in inter-state relations. Trade barriers and disputes have recently risen among partner states while political animosity that had ebbed has resurfaced between Rwanda on one side and Uganda and Burundi on the other.

EAC officials have welcomed the retreat, confirming that key officials from the Arusha-based secretariat would be in attendance as would be the heads of the community’s organs and institutions.

A tentative programme issued by the Rwanda ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation said “the main objective is to make the EAC organs more efficient, focused and complementary”. The EAC has three organs and nine institutions spread across member countries.

The retreat is also aimed at spearheading increased participation of the private sector and civil society in the programmes and projects of the EAC.

According to the ministry, the retreat will draw and adopt recommendations and timelines to deliver them for submission to the Council of Ministers and organs for implementation while President Kagame will present progress reports to the community’s Heads of State Summit.