Fri, 8 Feb 2008 06:19:33


By Leo Odera Omolo In Kisumua

The Secretary General of the East African Community, Ambassador Juma Mwapachu has said the EAC is set to play a central role in the resolution of the Kenyan political impasse.

The Secretary General said this would be in line with the UN and AU conventions which assign frontline role to regional mechanisms in the prevention, management and resolution of conflicts.

He said the Kenya situation had affected the regional integration process, and was having an impact on the capacity of the EAC to move forward. “It is critical that the Kenyan political situation returns to normalcy without further delay”, the Secretary General said.

The Secretary General spoke during a meeting with the British High Commissioner to Tanzania, Mr. Philip Parham, who called on him at his office in Arusha on 7 February 2008.

The Secretary General was accompanied during the meeting by the EAC Deputy Secretary General (Projects and Programmes) Amb. Julius Onen, the Deputy Secretary General (Political Federation), Ms Beatrice Kiraso and other senior EAC officials.

The talks with the British High Commissioner centred on EAC-UK cooperation and recent developments in the EAC regional integration process.

The Secretary General said the EAC Heads of State have all along engaged with both sides in the current Kenyan conflict in the search for expeditious, principled and lasting solution of the political impasse. He said that the two sides in the Kenyan conflict appreciate and welcome the EAC concern and role in the efforts to find a solution.

The Secretary General said EAC would get more deeply involved in the resolution of the Kenyan political impasse alongside the ongoing mediation process that is chaired by the former UN Secretary General Dr Kofi Annan.

The EAC Secretary General commended the mediation process noting that the two sides in the mediation were pursuing the solution in a restrained and responsible manner. He said a more positive posture had emerged and the violence experienced in the initial stages of the conflict had abated.

The EAC Secretary General said that the major interest of the EAC was to put a complete stop to the violence, and other disruptions, especially human rights violations and economic-related disruptions.

Mwapachu said the Kenyan political impasse had ramifications on the entire EAC region. The disruption of services at the port of Mombasa and along the rail and road transits had caused serious economic hardships to Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, DRC and other parts of the Great Lakes Region. The Secretary General said the EAC is intensifying both short and long term measures to ensure reliable and dependable infrastructure in the region.

He said that the situation in Kenya has brought to the fore the need to consolidate the political and economic integration of EAC.

Mwapachu also said that the relevant fundamental principles enshrined in the EAC Treaty laying emphasis on rule of law, good governance and human rights would be rolled out in the period ahead as well as activation of the EAC Protocol on Peace and Security relating to effective instruments and mechanisms for handling crises and establishing sustainability of the Community.

On EAC-UK cooperation, the two sides reviewed a £ 15 million UK aid plan through DFID to various regional projects in the EAC Partner States and at the EAC Secretariat, including capacity building for trade policy formulation and civil society participation in the EAC integration process. The Secretary General said mobilization of civil society was critical at this stage of deepening regional integration and, in particular, the ongoing process towards the establishment of the EAC Common Market by 2010.

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