{UAH} All chiefs and no Indians: EA enters era of summits - Comment - www.theeastafrican.co.ke

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All chiefs and no Indians: EA enters era of summits - Comment

If you are an East African president, then in the past four months you have had either to host a big man from the USA (Tanzania) or China (Tanzania and Kenya), or attend — or dodge — a regional summit on one issue or the other every two weeks.

Presidents Yoweri Museveni, Paul Kagame, and Uhuru Kenyatta have rubbed shoulders so many times since the end of June, it is possible if you blindfold them they can easily tell that the others are in the room from their scent.

Some good seems to be coming from these meetings.

A new infrastructure fundamentalism has emerged. Long forgotten or stalled railway, oil pipeline, and power projects are being taken down from wherever they have been gathering dust, and being spoken about or given a new lease of life.

There is renewed talk about "deepening" regional integration, and when the leaders met in Mombasa a fortnight ago for the launch of a new berth at the port, they hinted at expanding the East African Community to include nations like South Sudan.

Last Wednesday, the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region (ICGLR) met in Uganda to discuss the deteriorating security situation in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, and the four-month-long quarrel between Tanzania and Rwanda.

Kagame and Kikwete denied journalists the one photo they were all hoping for — of the two of them hugging and making up.

Two small, but revealing, matters have emerged from all these meetings. One notices that none of them have taken place in Rwanda. It seems, as Ugandans would say, Kigali is "mukono gamu" (tightfisted) with its money and doesn't like to throw a big party.

Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda are very generous. Whether this generosity is good depends on whether you are sitting at the table feasting, or a taxpayer looking in from the outside.

It seems that countries that like to stage bonanzas and summits, even if they are for good causes, tend to be bad bookkeepers. Perhaps that is why Rwanda has the best-kept public books in the region, and Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda's public accounts are lousy.

Secondly, up to a few months years ago, ministerial meetings were big in East Africa and made frequent news. The average newspaper reader in East Africa could tell you the name of the Trade, Defence, Finance, Foreign Affairs, and Regional Co-operation ministers from each of the EAC partner states.

These days, many holders of these portfolios either lack substance, charisma (compare any trade minister in the region today to former Kenyan minister Mukhisa Kituyi) or clout. What could be happening is that, with a few exceptions, institutional shrinkage and the rise of personalised presidential power in East Africa is diminishing the role of ministers.

Kenya's former president Mwai Kibaki was the last big delegator of power in East Africa. Because he subcontracted so many responsibilities to his ministers, it seems he forced other regional leaders to free their ministers to deal with them.

With his departure, one senses the leaders have firmly moved to centrestage again. A golden age of East African summiteering is upon us. Hopefully Burundi's Pierre Nkurunziza will begin showing up.

Charles Onyango-Obbo is Nation Media Group's executive editor for Africa & Digital Media. E-mail: cobbo@ke.nationmedia.com. Twitter: @cobbo3

All chiefs and no Indians: EA enters era of summits - Comment - www.theeastafrican.co.ke
http://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/OpEd/comment/All+chiefs+and+no+Indians+EA+enters+era+of+summits+/-/434750/1983030/-/xsm2k7/-/index.html