Tension seems to ease in East Africa bloc

Arusha. The East African Community (EAC) could be headed for better days following Friday’s summit held against a backdrop of open hostilities and trade wars.

Rwandan President Paul Kagame, whose country has been embroiled in deteriorating relations with its two neighbours, appeared to let bygones be bygones as he took over the mantle from his Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni.

He also had brief heartwarming exchange of words with Burundi first vice president Gaston Sindimwo and showered positive remarks on the EAC secretary general Liberat Mfumukeko, a Burundian national.

“We need to come together in a spirit of solidarity and unity for the benefit and well being of the citizens of our region”, he told the summit at the Arusha International Conference Centre.

Only two months ago, the Rwandan leader was critical of two of its fellow EAC states, Burundi and Uganda, as the summit slated for November 30th was cancelled after Burundi boycotted it.

Another meeting of the regional leaders could not take place on December 27 at the height of strong exchange of letters by Bujumbura and Kampala State Houses over Rwanda.

Enraged President Kagame reached a point of accusing the two neighbours of harassment of its nationals and indirectly criticised Mfumukeko on some of the woes EAC was facing. But he was far from the tense past on Friday when he committed himself to steer the Community to the desired integration level, affording not to fall back on that.

At the high table after assuming the EAC Chair, the Rwanda leader reached out Burundi VP for friendly exchanges, something not imaginable until recently due to hostilities between the two states.

VP Sindimwo was there to represent Burundi President Pierre Nkurunziza who has not attended the EAC summits since 2015 following a coup attempt, he partly blamed on Rwanda.

Diplomats reached out by The Citizen hinted the taking over of EAC Chair by the Rwandan leader could have some impact on the apparent mistrust between Kigali and its neighbours.

“Kagame can use his position to make or break the ties with his neigbours”, intimated one envoy who said the Rwandan leader would likely avoid seeing further cracks on the bloc under his chairmanship.

A Burundi diplomat based in Arusha declined to confirm reports that his country was opposed to Rwanda taking over as EAC chair at the time of hostile relations with his country.

However, he intimated there was a flicker of hope that his country’s concerns would one day find a listening ear. “Things could be in the right direction,” he said.

Nevertheless, other observers were not explicit if the new EAC Chair would heed to repeated requests by Burundi for ‘open and frank’ talks on the sour Rwanda/Burundi relations.

Burundi has often blamed its northern neighbour of supporting and arming rebels it accuses of being behind the failed coup in 2015 and the subsequent violent chaos which killed hundreds.

Rwanda, which hosts tens of thousands of Burundi refugees who fled the chaos, has repeatedly refuted the allegations it claims were due to ‘internal governance crisis’ in the latter.

However, the summit ended without the outcome of the recently finalized Burundi mediation efforts (Inter-Burundi Dialogue) led by former President Benjamin Mkapa not being made public.