By WALTER MENYA wmenya@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted Saturday, November 19 2011 at 22:30
Posted Saturday, November 19 2011 at 22:30
On November 30, Kenya will take over the rotating chairmanship of the East African Community (EAC) for the next year.
President Mwai Kibaki assumes the chairmanship of the regional organisation at a historic moment not only for EAC but himself as well, as that is the last time he will serve in the capacity before he retires after the next General Election.
President Kibaki will take over from his Burundian counterpart Pierre Nkurunziza at the EAC Heads of State Summit in Bujumbura.
Even before the due date, the incoming chairman’s in- tray is already overflowing with internal as well as regional matters.
President Kibaki is barred by the Constitution from running for a third term. Will he then dedicate his final year in office to building a legacy at home or concentrate on building the regional bloc?
At home, the President would want to end the war against the Al-Shabaab on a winning note and secure the nation’s borders from the criminals in the shortest time possible.
The Kenya Defence Forces crossed the border to Somalia slightly over a month ago in pursuit of the militia that is accused of threatening national security and economy.
First election
And after securing a new Constitution for the country, the President is also interested in seeing its full implementation and a peaceful first election under the new law.
In addition, he will be hoping that there will be no recurrence of the drought that affected four million Kenyans early this year.
Equally significant are the ongoing International Criminal Court cases against six people accused of bearing the greatest responsibility for the post-election violence.
These are tasks that will constantly be in the President’s mind even as he will be going about steering EAC towards its set targets.
Regionally, President Kibaki takes over the EAC leadership at a time when more countries have expressed interest to join.
Among those interested are Sudan and South Sudan, Somalia and Comoros.
How he navigates around Sudan’s application to join EAC will be keenly watched.
The Community’s treaty provides that countries that accede to it must share borders with at least an existing member.
Sudan does not and assistant minister for EAC Affairs Peter Munya recently urged the Community to reject Sudan’s application, arguing that Khartoum does not meet the criteria for membership.
Mr Munya also argued that Sudan uses neither English nor Kiswahili, the two languages of the bloc.
South Sudan
Meanwhile, EAC leaders started courting Sudan’s neighbour and erstwhile rival South Sudan even before it went into a referendum in January this year and broke away from Khartoum.
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni was quoted yesterday pledging unreserved support for South Sudan’s accession to the EAC Treaty.
“Uganda will support the Government of South Sudan to join the Community and we will receive her with open hands,” President Museveni said.
President Kibaki will also be expected to midwife the Monetary Union, of which negotiations are currently ongoing.
It is under President Kibaki’s chairmanship that the leaders will be expected to reach a deal and transform the Common Market to a Monetary Union.East African Community Minister Musa Sirma stated that Kenya is committed to a single East African currency but community states had some reservations in adopting certain policies.
The Bujumbura Summit is expected to address progress on single customs, table a five-year development plan for the region, and discuss the strengthening of regional integration.
“The task force has up to now negotiated 33 articles out of the 96 articles on the monetary union,” Mr Sirma said.
Besides the Monetary Union, the region’s leaders are also involved in negotiations meant to federate it into a single political entity, a much tougher assignment that even the more advanced European Union still grapples with.
The major task will be to convince the individual states to give up their jealously-guarded sovereignty for a single government.
The Heads of State will also discuss the political, legal and socio-economic consequences of a political federation.
National sovereignty
“The political and legal issues are linked to the fear of losing national sovereignty,” Mr Sirma said.
The minister added that the summit would also discuss fears of competition over land, loss of national identity and social cohesion, as well as inadequate implementation of the customs union and the common market.
While instability in Somalia is a major problem for Kenya, it is equally so for the regional bloc.
Uganda and Burundi are the major troop contributing countries to the Amisom peacekeeping force and face terrorist threats from the Al-Shabaab.
President Kibaki will have to divide his time in parts sufficient to build his legacy both at home and within East African Community during his term as the bloc’s chairman.
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