The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The standoff between Uganda and Rwanda will again not be on the agenda as the leaders of the East African Community member states meet on Saturday.
The 21st Ordinary Meeting of the Summit of the EAC Heads of State is set to take place virtually, preceded by the 40th Ordinary Meeting of the EAC Council of Ministers that ended Thursday.
The items on the agenda include the: Consideration of the request by the Democratic Republic of Congo to join the EAC; Progress Report on the Verification Exercise for Admission of the Federal Republic of Somalia into the EAC and a Progress Report on the Adoption of Political Confederation as a Transitional Model of the East African Political Federation.
According to the agenda circulated by the secretariat, items for discussion also include consideration of a Summit Directive to include French as an Official Language of the EAC, and; Report on the Roadmap for the Accelerated Integration of the Republic of South Sudan into the EAC.
Other items include the Appointment of the new Secretary-General; Progress Report of the Council of Ministers for the period February 2019 to February 2021, and; Appointment of Judges to the East African Court of Justice.
The tension between Uganda and Rwanda took an abrupt turn in February 2019 when Rwanda blocked the movement of cargo from Uganda and barred her nationals from crossing over to the north.
Since then, several meetings have been held convened by the presidents of Angola and the DRC, without much success.
Rwanda promised a return to normal relations if Uganda produced in court or released all Rwandans in detention in the country, stopped “supporting Rwandan dissidents” and guarantee the safety of her citizens in Uganda.
Uganda claims the Rwandans held or deported are those that have been involved in crime, while it denies giving support to dissidents.
Cross-border traders meeting in Kampala on Friday, called for an end to the standoff because it was killing trade and affecting the two economies.
Uganda was exporting goods 220 million Shillings to Rwanda before the border closure, and this has gone down by almost 90%.
Flavia Busingye, the Acting Director for Customs at the EAC said there was hope that the issue would be discussed at the summit, a view that was echoed by officials from Uganda Revenue Authority and the East African Community Affairs Ministry.
The government has also been advising Ugandan traders to find alternative markets like the DRC and South Sudan.
********
URN
