By LUKE ANAMI

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Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta has pledged to focus the remainder of his term as EAC chair on improving governance structures and relationships among partner states.

On his EAC agenda for 2022, President Kenyatta is also keen on ensuring smooth operations of the Secretariat and organs by improving its funding mechanisms; on overseeing the admission of the Democratic Republic of Congo into the regional bloc; and answer the private sector’s call for the removal of non-tariff barriers.

President Kenyatta, who took over the one-year role from Rwanda’s Paul Kagame in March 2021, is expected to hand over to Burundi’s President Evariste Ndayishimiye this year.

“There are a few things President Kenyatta wishes to achieve before the end of his tenure sometime this year,” said Adan Mohamed, Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary in the Ministry of EAC and Regional Development and chair of the EAC Council of Ministers. “We get the DRC admitted. At least if the issue of quorum is sorted out people will come around to sit at the table.”

In an interview with The EastAfrican, Mr Mohamed disclosed that there are a few border disputes among partner states, which President Kenyatta is keen on resolving.

“We don’t have a lot of tiffs between Kenya and Tanzania anymore. We have sorted out our trade disputes with Tanzania, and one can see trade beginning to improve tremendously between the two neighbours,” said Mr Mohamed.

He added; “President Kenyatta is also keen to see that there is a good relationship between Burundi and Rwanda, and Uganda and Rwanda. We are in the process of sorting out trade issues with Uganda. The admission of DR Congo is key and is expected to assist more homogenous relations in the EAC.”

Soon after the Heads of State Summit meeting held on December 22, the process of admitting the DR Congo started.

“The president is focused on finalising the remaining processes in the admission of the DRC. One of the reasons why the EAC is focused on the DRC is the expansion of the market in the region,” said Mr Mohamed.

Alice Yalla, the chair of the DRC verification has already briefed the team and the officials of the DRC on the purpose, its methodology, the broad sectors that the team would be targeting and the subsequent process upon its completion.

Nicole Ntumba Bwatshia, the deputy chief of staff in charge of legal, political and diplomatic affairs to the president of the DRC, is leading the government officials in the verification.

As the EAC seeks to expand, the private sector through the East African Business Council (EABC) is calling on regional governments to rescue the economies that have been ravaged by the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“In 2022, EAC member states must come up with a rigorous economic stimulus programme and post-Covid-19 Economic Recovery Strategy to cushion East Africans,” said John Kalisa, the chief executive of EABC, is his new year agenda.

“We also need to have a regional common approach to the management of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 to allow smooth flow of goods across the borders and fast-track EAC vaccination passports.”

The EABC wants the EAC to prioritise the implementation of the Customs Union focused on achieving the free movement of goods and liberalization of regional trade.

“The EAC has registered significant achievements in its integration process, however, there is still a lot required to be done for the EAC private sector to tap into the opportunities and benefits presented by the Customs Union and Common Market protocols,” said Mr Kalisa.

“There is also a lack of trade dispute settlement mechanism; unharmonised standards; slow pace in the liberalisation of trade in services, dissimilar work permit regimes, and slow progress on the free movement of capital,” the EABC boss said.