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| Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga. |
Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga has offered to intervene and end the
suspicion that is threatening to break up the East African Community
(EAC).
Raila wants EAC heads of State to appoint a panel of statesmen
from the region’s countries to address outstanding issues that have
seenDar es Salaam government threaten to quit the regional body.
“I
want to propose to regional heads of State that a panel of statesmen
from EAC be put together to work out a mechanism to resolve the impasse
and put the union back on track,” the ex-PM told reporters at the Serena
Hotel in Nairobi yesterday.
Raila indicated that he was willing
to be Kenya’s representative on the panel while appealing to Presidents
Uhuru Kenyatta, Yoweri Museveni (Uganda), Jakaya Kikwete ( Tanzania) and Paul Kagame (Rwanda) to urgently pick the panel.
Raila warns that Kenya will be the biggest loser in the event Tanzania pulls out of the EAC bloc because it will be unable to access markets in the DRC and Malawi.
“Kenya and the rest of EAC stand to suffer economically if Tanzania were to team up with DRC and Burundi in another union. The Tanzania-DRC-Burundi coalition would effectively block EAC, Kenya included, from accessing the markets of central and southern Africa,” he noted.
“We must make no mistake about the potential might of the three States put together. DRC remains a virgin land of vast potential. It is famed to have natural resources, including potential for electric power sufficient for the entire continent of Africa,” he explained.
Instead, Raila wants Uhuru to push for a coalition comprising Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda and South Sudan, which would jointly entice DRC to come on board.
Raila warns that Kenya will be the biggest loser in the event Tanzania pulls out of the EAC bloc because it will be unable to access markets in the DRC and Malawi.
“Kenya and the rest of EAC stand to suffer economically if Tanzania were to team up with DRC and Burundi in another union. The Tanzania-DRC-Burundi coalition would effectively block EAC, Kenya included, from accessing the markets of central and southern Africa,” he noted.
“We must make no mistake about the potential might of the three States put together. DRC remains a virgin land of vast potential. It is famed to have natural resources, including potential for electric power sufficient for the entire continent of Africa,” he explained.
Instead, Raila wants Uhuru to push for a coalition comprising Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda and South Sudan, which would jointly entice DRC to come on board.
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