Tanzania decries neglect by EAC member states, eyes partnership with DRC

From Right: Presidents Uhuru Kenyatta (Kenya), Paul kagame (Rwanda) and Yoweri Museveni (Uganda) during the during the 3rd infrastructure summit in Rwanda. (Photo:PSCU)

By Philip Mwakio

Mombasa, Kenya: Tanzania has hit out at the move by Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda to sign tripartite agreements without it and is now eyeing closer relations with the mineral rich Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The Tanzanians are leading a UN military force trying to stabilise the East of the former Zaire, an intervention that has strained relations with Rwanda which is believed to support rebels in the Congo.

Lately Tanzania has been expelling nationals from EAC member states for a variety of reasons.

Tanzania occupies almost half of the total land mass in EAC but was not represented during Monday’s signing of the Single Customs Territory in Kigali, Rwanda.

In a move likely to heighten tension within the larger East African Community (EAC) economic bloc, Tanzania’s minister for East African Co-operation, Mr Samuel Sitta is quoted in Citizen Daily, Tanzanian newspaper as saying that Tanzania has not been sitting pretty as it is excluded by the three member states.

‘’We are not idle. With clear signals that we are being sidelined alongside Burundi, we are focusing our engagements with DRC whom we believe has great economic potential,’’ Sitta is reported saying.

Tanzania is keen to develop the railway line project that will connect Uvinza in Kigoma along the shores of Lake Tanganyika to Msongati in the DRC.

“Our problem now is that a road linking us to Goma in DRC traverses Rwanda. The Uvinza-Msongati link will solve it,” he said.

The minister added that, Tanzania-Burundi closeness would be cost-effective for the latter’s business community members, through reliance on the nearer Dar es Salaam port, against the farther Mombasa option by 900 kilometres.

He noted that a Bujumbura businessman who opts for Mombasa port route travels 900km more compared to the one who uses Dar port.

For some months now, the Kenya-Uganda-Rwanda triumvirate has been driving the integration agenda to the exclusion of Tanzania and Burundi, with whom they are supposed to operate the five-member EAC grouping.

The triumvirate, branded by a section of the media as a coalition of the willing, has gone to the extent of discussing a protocol for speeding up the formation of a political federation.

However, Mr Sitta appeared to be cautious when reacting to questions from Members of Parliament, stressing that time was not yet ripe for Tanzania to take bold steps as a reaction to the goings-on in the rest of the bloc.

“It pains us if our partners are acting behind our back. But on this issue my advice is that we heed the advice of former President Ali Hassan Mwinyi; that, the best way of dealing with a liar is to give him space,” he said.

Mr Sitta noted that as a precaution, the government was now very cautious on its engagements in EAC activities. He explained that since the ‘coalition’ had sometimes been inviting Tanzania to their events, the government had been careful on where it sent its representatives.

Mr Sitta stressed that it was too early for Tanzania to take concrete steps even to condemn what the three partners are doing until more information is gathered.

He said so far the government has tasked the chairman of the EAC Council of Ministers (Uganda) to seek clarification as to what the three countries are doing and brief Tanzania and the rest of the members.

“We are expecting to meet in two weeks’ time in Arusha to receive a report from the chairman of the Council of Ministers. From there we will have more ground to determine the next course of action,” Sitta reportedly said.

A section of Tanzanian legislators have been  pressurising the government to either withdraw from the EAC and talk with other neighbouring countries to establish another regional grouping or halt Tanzania’s engagement in the regional activities.

Tough talking Tanzanian Minister for Foreign and International Co-operation, Mr Bernard Membe is reported to have said that what Tanzania was waiting for was only a divorce from its EAC partners.