EAC summit called off hours after Ruto urged states to shun petty disputes

From Left: Vice President of Tanzania Dr. Mohamed Bilal, Burundian 1st Vice President Prosper Bazombaza, Kenya’s Deputy President William Ruto and Rwandan Prime minister Anastase Mulekezi (right) during the 3rd EAC heads of state retreat on infrastructure Development and financing at KICC Nairobi. (Photo: PSCU)

The third East Africa Community Heads of State summit on infrastructure was last night called off indefinitely.

Deputy President William Ruto had earlier in the day opened the meeting taking place in Nairobi. President Uhuru Kenyatta had been expected to officially open the meeting but was said to have been engaged elsewhere.

No reason was given for the sudden cancellation of the summit. It was also not clear if Tanzania’s President Jakaya Kikwete, who has been unwell, would have attended.

Opening the council of ministers meeting, Ruto warned member-states against getting bogged down in “petty jealousies” among themselves and instead look at the benefits of full integration.

Coalition of the willing

He said mega EAC projects across individual countries borders are the way to go. He also warned against “fragmented markets”, saying they will not take any country anywhere.

The summit began Saturday with keynote address by Africa Development Bank President Donald Kaberuka and addresses by World Bank-Africa Vice President Makhtar Diop, UNCTAD Secretary General Dr Mukhisa Kituyi and European Union Ambassador to EAC Filiberto Ceriani. Coalition of the willing

The five heads of states for the community- Uhuru Kenyatta (Kenya), Yoweri Museveni (Uganda), Paul Kagame (Rwanda), Pierre Nkurunziza (Burudi) and Kikwete were to attend the summit.

“We must now go beyond the petty jealousies. We must look at the bigger picture. We are good separated but we can be better together,” Ruto said to a thunderous applause of delegates.

Last year, there had been unease in the community following Kikwete’s famous “coalition of the willing” remarks during which he accused other EAC members of excluding his country in joint events.

“We hear that when some people are asked why Tanzania is not invited, they say: ‘Tanzania would join later’ - that this is a coalition of the willing. But we have never been invited,” Kikwete told Tanzanian MPs in a speech broadcast on national radio and TV.

During yesterday’s meeting, Ruto said the community needs $100 billion in the next 10 years to complete the prioritised infrastructural projects spanning across the five countries.

He narrated a story of a visit to President Museveni’s farm where the Ugandan leader told him that bureaucrats, not politicians, are the problem in Africa. He said Museveni told him that had bureaucrats in Uganda advised former dictator Idi Amin on the importance of energy, he would have built a mega dam because “he fancied big things.”

“I hope our generation of bureaucrats will not fail us. There is a new narrative in town, that Africa is on the rise. We must give this narrative true meaning,” he challenged the delegates, most of them bureaucrats in the EAC governments.

Dr Kituyi, however, disagreed with Ruto when he rose to speak. He said the problem is not bureaucrats but Presidents who tend to listen more to political advisors than technical advisors.

Kituyi also warned against the temptation of EAC relying too much on Public and Private partnerships (PPP’s) for development. He asked political leaders to “keep the eye on the ball,” and to sort out disaffected groups slowing down infrastructural take-off of the region.

“The decline of northern England is closely associated with rush for privatisation of governmental functions,” he said.

The summit will evaluate the progress made in execution of 72 prioritised infrastructure projects spread accross the EAC countries. The World Bank, European Union and Africa Development Bank have promised support.