The East African Summit
The annual East African Community Summit is being held in Tanzania in the midst of ongoing hostility whereby Burundi declared Rwanda its enemy.
This one of the reasons why Burundi and South Sudan’s heads of state are missing from the Summit.
It is only Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania which are represented in the ongoing Summit in Arusha.
Burundi will instead be represented by Nkurunziza’s first deputy while South Sudan will be represented by a special representative (envoy).
Burundi is accusing EAC from not taking action to solve the country’s poor relations with Rwanda.
President Nkurunziza has from time to time accused President Paul Kagame of sponsoring efforts to overthrow his government three years ago. Rwanda also is accused of training militia groups with the intention of undermining Burundi’s national security.
On the other hand, Rwanda has never accepted those allegations and instead Rwanda is complaining that her residents who travel to Uganda are abducted, tortured and deported by Burundi.
It is unfortunate that these issues are not part of the official Summit Agenda. The main item on the agenda are the discussions around establishment of a common currency as well as a political federation just like the European Union.
These talks will not bear much fruits unless the outstanding issues affecting member countries are addressed as soon as possible.
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