President Paul Kagame on Wednesday, December 22, emphasised the pressing need for EAC countries to work more closely so as to minimise the negative impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on regional economies. The President was speaking during the extraordinary Summit of Heads of State in which they met virtually and recommended that imminent negotiations paving way for DR Congo’s admission into the bloc be undertaken with speed and efficiency. Chaired by President Uhuru Kenyatta (Kenya), the Summit was also attended by Tanzania’s Samia Suluhu Hassan and Uganda’s Yoweri Museveni. Burundi’s Vice President Prosper Bazombanza and South Sudan’s EAC Minister, Deng Alor Kuol, represented their respective countries. Kagame noted that Rwanda welcomes the progress made with regards to the admission, in the bloc, of the DR Congo and looks forward to the prompt conclusion of the remaining admission procedures. He added that as the year ends, “we all continue to confront the challenge of the Covid-19 pandemic.” This threat, he stated, demands that we work closely together as a region, to protect the health of our people and minimise the disruption to our economies.” His appeal came at the time the region’s tourism sector – which used to be one of Rwandas biggest foreign exchange earners in the past – was the worst hit by the pandemic. According to figures from the bloc’s Secretariat, partner states lost 92 per cent tourism revenues due to the pandemic as tourist arrivals to the region fell from 6.98 million arrivals in before the pandemic to 2.25 million arrivals occasioning the losses. Initiatives such as new regional tourism media campaign meant to revive the sector were recently stifled by the emergence of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 first detected in South Africa last month. Mid this month, Rwanda became the second EAC country to record the variant after Uganda. Quickly, new measures were announced by the cabinet so as to mitigate the spread of new variants which is said to be highly contagious. President Kenyatta said the impacts of the pandemic are being witnessed in and outside the region, and that in moments like these, “our unity and common purpose is tested and the temptation maybe to look inwards and to seclude.” “However, when faced with a crisis such as Covid-19, the articles of our common treaty remind us that we are greater together than the sum of our parts, Kenyatta said, “We are therefore challenged in this fifth wave of the disease to work much closely together and to align our health protocols.” Peter Mathuki, the EAC Secretary General, in a brief statement to the Summit, urged partner states to adopt a coordinated approach in tackling the pandemic “so that our economies can recover.” Institutional efficiency, cost-effectiveness Kagame also stressed that deepening regional integration will depend on improving the institutional efficiency and cost-effectiveness of the bloc. “Rwanda stands ready to play our part in this important task,” he said. Among others, audit reports have regularly shown various institutions and organs of the EAC caught up in wasteful expenditure, despite the fact that internal resources remained constrained as countries continuously failed to make their obligatory remittances to the Secretariat on time. A proposal by regional Finance Ministers regarding a hybrid model for financing the bloc’s budget is still under consultations. Currently, partner states contribute equally, $8 million, to the bloc’s budget as outlined in Article 132 of the EAC Treaty.
