Peter Munya faces tall order at EAC docket

Former Meru Governor Peter Munya has been handed the task of promoting regional integration, just over a year after he was accused of wrecking it.

Mr Munya, who made political U-turns during the electioneering season last year, ditching Jubilee for two days to Nasa before returning to the fold, will now be in charge of East African Community, and the Northern Corridor Development, if the National Assembly endorses him.

He was quick to accept the nomination:

AGENDA AND VISION

“I take this opportunity to thank His Excellency the President for the honour and privilege he has accorded me and the people of Meru by nominating me to serve in his Cabinet as CS in charge of East African Community and Northern Corridor Development.

“I promise to serve with dedication to help the president achieve his agenda and vision of widening and deepening regional integration,” he added.

But for him as the CS for EAC and Northern Corridor Development, perhaps the shoe will be in the other foot. In July 2016, Mr Munya caused controversy in Somalia when he visited Somaliland, a breakaway region yet to be recognised internationally, ostensibly to promote easier regulations on miraa from his county.

While in Somalia, the then Meru governor met with Somaliland Deputy President Abdurrahman Ishmael, the Foreign Affairs minister and his Finance counterpart, where he reportedly offered to lobby for the region’s international recognition in exchange for freer Miraa deals.

The proposal irked Mogadishu, who returned the favour by temporarily banning Miraa exports to those regions, and accusing Munya of meddling in their affairs.

Somalia’s then Ambassador to Kenya Gamal Hassan later claimed Munya had caused “political pressure” back home to force the ban.

“He linked the territorial integrity of the country to the miraa trade and interfered in the internal affairs of the country. This has created a lot of unbearable pressure on the government. We have suspended the trade to address these matters,” the envoy had told the Nation.

Somalia’s application to join the EAC is yet to be accepted, but the region has contributed troops to the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom) to help buttress Mogadishu’s fledgling government as it embarks of federal system. In fact, it has been the region’s policy to support a unified, though federated, Somalia, meaning Munya’s alleged comments were not official Kenyan stand.

In the wake of the accusations though, Mr Munya, who became the first governor to survive an election petition loss by appealing up to the Supreme Court, claimed his political enemies were exaggerating.

PROGANDA  

“The cartels have started targeting me with lots of propaganda concerning the market. It is a really worrying situation," he said, after local farmers asked him to apologise to Somalia then.

“I am being accused of being a hindrance in the marketing of miraa. How can I work against my people?"

Kenya sends about 540 planeloads of Miraa in a good month, and the crop is usually political issue among locals in Meru.

Munya will now have to market official Kenyan policy on issues of regional integration.

As official in charge of the Northern Corridor, he will oversee is a trade route linking the landlocked countries of the Great Lakes Region with the port of Mombasa. He will have to promote interstate trade between Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda and South Sudan, all members of the Corridor.