Kibaki, EAC leaders to open major road

President Kibaki will lead other East African Community (EAC) Heads of State in opening the Athi River-Arusha-Namaga Road Wednesday.

He will be joined by Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, Yoweri Museveni (Uganda), Paul Kagame (Rwanda) and Pierre Nkurunziza of Burundi during the function at Athi River in Machakos County starting 2pm.

The leaders will also attend the 4th Ordinary Summit of Heads of State, which will see President Kibaki handing over the chairmanship of EAC to President Museveni.

A press dispatch from the EAC said the meeting of the EAC’s top most organ takes place on Friday.

“The Summit meeting will be preceded by a presidential retreat on infrastructure on Thursday 29 November and the launch ceremonies of the new EAC headquarters and the rehabilitated Arusha-Namanga-Athi River Road, in Arusha and Athi River Town respectively. Both ceremonies will take place on Wednesday 28 November,” the statement said.

At Friday’s Summit meeting, the Heads of State are expected to consider the Annual Report of the Council of Ministers for the period November 2011 - November 2012; a progress report of the Council of Ministers on the operationalisation of the Single Customs Territory; as well as a Council report on South Sudan’s application to join the East African Community.

Among the other items due for consideration are reports of the Council of Ministers on the way forward on the Political Federation; as well as on the implementation of the Summit’s directive on extending the jurisdiction of the East African Court of Justice. A meeting of the Council of Ministers in preparation for the Summit concludes today in Nairobi.

The idea to build the EAC headquarters was conceived back in 1996 when the Secretariat of the Permanent Tripartite Commission was launched. However, the process only started effectively when Tanzania allocated the headquarters site, measuring 9.85 acres to the EAC.

The EAC headquarters entails a complex covering a total built up area of 15,025 square meters, made up of three wings of four storeys each. The building has been designed with maximum flexibility in case there's a need for future extension and to adapt to the local climatic conditions.

The construction project was officially commissioned by the EAC Heads of State on November 20, 2009, although actual construction work began on 28 January 2010. The project was fully funded by the Federal republic of Germany to the tune of 14.8 million euros.

The rehabilitated Arusha-Namanga-Athi River road has eased travel between Tanzania and Kenya.

The infrastructure retreat set for Thursday follows the 1st Retreat of Heads of States of EAC that was held in Kigali in June 2008 and identified development of infrastructure as key to the region’s integration and overall socio-economic development.

The Retreat is expected to discuss priority regional infrastructure projects as well as funding options for the same.