20th anniversary of the East African Community: States told to stop quarrels

Arusha. Colour, songs and dance graced the 20th anniversary of the East African Community (EAC) on Saturday November 30 with yet another reminder for its members to live in harmony.

Governments of the six partner states were called upon to focus on the future prospects of the union and forget the dark past of soured relations.

“What we passed through is over. We should not go back,” affirmed Ali Kirunda Kivenjija, Uganda’s second deputy prime minister and the country’s EAC Affairs minister.

He said occasional spats between members of the bloc had largely been due to mistrust and suspicion on each other “built on mere rumours”.

He implored on the governments of Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya, Burundi, Rwanda and South Sudan not to allow ‘rumours’ to soil cordial relations between them.

The 84 year old Ugandan politician told a gathering at the EAC headquarters that the bloc should not allow the dark past to rule the day.

He admitted, however, that the bloc has endured many problems at different states in the last 50 years, some linked to the region’s colonial past.

“Stop rumours and each one of you should do his or her job,” he said, pointing at the seated EAC executives whom he tasked to spearhead harmony among the partner states.

Dr Kirunda, an eloquent speaker, sent tongues wagging when he said he was happy to see the Burundi and Rwanda nationals working in harmony and heading the key organs of the Community.

The current secretary general Liberat Mfumukeko is a Burundi national while the Speaker of the East African Legislative Assembly (Eala) Martin Ngoga comes from Rwanda.

Another key organ of the Community, the East African Court of Justice (EACJ), is headed by a Rwanda national Justice Emmanuel Ugirashebuja as the Court’s President.

The Uganda deputy PM added exchange of spats between Tanzania and Kenya, which partly contributed to the collapse of the former EAC in 1977, was now history.

Dr Kirunda’s long speech was punctuated by laughter from the crowd with his narratives on how he had been associated with EA integration for nearly 60 years now.

He was already a senior government official during the independence days in the early 1960s and has seen the creation and death of the former EAC.

Marking of the EAC Day started early in the morning in Arusha with a procession through major roads led by the police and army bands, school children and the EAC staff.

Initially the celebrations were intended to coincide with the 21st Ordinary Summit of the Heads of State which was postponed to early next year.

It was on November 30th, 1999 that the Treaty for the Establishment of the EAC was signed in Arusha by the presidents of Tanzania, Uganda and . It was enforced on July 1st, 2000.

Ambassador Mfumukeko paid tribute to the founding fathers of the union for what he described as “far sighted wisdom” to establish the economic bloc.

He cited infrastructure development, industrialization and education policies and health care approaches and customs management as among the major achievements.