Kenya’s President William Ruto was on Saturday elected to chair the East African Community (EAC) heads of State summit, the top decision-making organ of the bloc.
Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi, who was expected to take over from South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir, did not attend the summit in Arusha, where the regional bloc was also celebrating 25 years of integration.
The EAC heads of State who attended the celebrations, Samia Suluhu Hassan (Tanzania), Yoweri Museveni (Uganda), Paul Kagame (Rwanda), Hassan Sheikh Mohamud (Somalia) and President Kiir took the decision to hand the mantle to Dr Ruto as the bloc grapples with multiple issues, including conflict, trade barriers and funding gaps.
Some of the partners were said to have had no faith in the DRC leader steering the Community in the face of these issues, as he also has domestic, political and security problems to deal with. They turned to Dr Ruto as some sort of compromise.
Somalia was next in line to lead the EAC, but it is still in the process of aligning with the Community protocols.
Sources indicated that President Samia would have taken the baton but passed it up to Dr Ruto, citing “other commitments.” The Tanzanian leader is set to start campaigns to defend her seat in the next year’s General Election.
President Mohamud will be rapporteur for the next one year with the possibility of assuming the chair after Dr Ruto.
Dr Ruto leads the EAC at a crucial period when it is expanding rapidly amid divisions over commercial, political and diplomatic differences, 25 years after it was re-established. The original EAC collapsed in 1977 due to ideological differences between leaders of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda at the time.
His in-tray is full in a bloc in need of peace, reduction of non-tariff barriers, to facilitate free movement of goods and people to increase intra-regional trade, which has been stuck at 14 percent for the past three years.
Ahead of the summit, tensions between Rwanda and the DRC played out, according to sources. The two neighbours had been accusing each other of backing rebels targeting their administrations. It is the reason Angola has been mediating talks to find a political resolution.
They recently formed a mechanism to monitor violations of an agreed ceasefire.
President Ruto himself ran into controversy in the DRC, after he hosted Congolese rebels calling themselves Congo River Alliance with the ambition to topple the government in Kinshasa. A military court sentenced them to death in absentia. Kinshasa has subsequently refused to accredit Kenya's ambassador a year later.
Borders have been closed between Rwanda and Burundi, Rwanda and DRC, Uganda and DRC and tension simmers on the Horn of Africa, where Somalia and Ethiopia, an expected future member of the EAC, continue to bicker over a sea access deal between Addis Ababa and breakaway Somaliland at the start of the year.
President Ruto, in his speech, urged the EAC presidents to remit their budget contributions to the Secretariat to enable it accomplish its agenda.
“To spur economic development in the region, we will continue to strengthen regional peace, security, political accountability, and good governance. To ensure successful implementation of the Community’s projects and programmes, I urge partner States to uphold their commitment to the timely disbursement of statutory contributions and fast-track implementation of the sustainable financing mechanism,” he said.
“Allow me to express my gratitude for nominating me as the next chairperson for the next one year. I want to thank President Kiir, the outgoing chairperson, for his excellent role for the past one year. During my tenure, I will work towards improving the quality of life of the people of East Africa through increased competitiveness, value-added production, trade and investments.”
He asked the Secretariat to engage with the European Union to ensure the region takes advantage of the economic partnership agreement (Epa) that was signed between Kenya and the EU on December 18, 2023 and came into effect in July 2024. The Epa grants Kenyan exports to access the European market duty-free.
On Friday, President Ruto acknowledged Tanzania’s lead in trading goods and services with Kenya.
“Kenya was the leading country in terms of goods and services that we trade in East Africa. Today, Tanzania has overtaken Kenya, and I must commend Tanzania for the progress they are making, that the numbers are growing of trade between our countries and as the numbers grow, different countries are selling more different products and services within our common market. It is what it is, and that is why we must work on this consistently together,” he said.
President Kagame supported President Ruto’s calls that EAC partner states remit their budgetary contributions, proposing sanctions on partner States who default.
The biggest defaulters are Burundi, South Sudan and DRC, who are still in arrears for the 2024/25 financial year.
“We need strict compliance measures, because the current situation is neither acceptable nor sustainable. The mechanisms put in place by the African Union for example, have led to better performance of members,” Mr Kagame said, asking the EAC to adopt similar procedures.
President Kiir said that focus should be on enhancing regional peace and security, strengthening intra-EAC trade and fast-tracking digital transformation.
President Samia called for peaceful efforts and called for comradeship among the EAC citizens, while Mr Museveni called for the removal of trade barriers.
