ADDRESS BY HIS EXCELLENCY JAKAYA MRISHO KIKWETE, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA, AT KIMAKA COMMAND AND STAFF COLLEGE, JINJA, UGANDA, 24 TH NOVEMBER, 2006 Your Excellency President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni; Honourable Ministers; Commanders of UPDF; Commandant of Kimaka Command and Staff College; Invited Guests; Ladies and Gentlemen. From Cooperation to Integration in East Africa Let me first thank you, Mr. President and the Commandant of Kimaka Command and Staff College for inviting me here today. It is a rare privilege and indeed, an honour indeed for me to be invited to visit and speak at this important defence academy in the presence of a distinguished military audience such as this one.
The fact that you have allowed me to do both speaks volume about the state of our relations and the trust that exists between our two countries, governments and our two militaries. Mr. President, I thank you so much. I also wish to thank the Commandant as well as the staff of college for the warmth of reception and hospitality. I am most grateful for the way we have been received and being looked after since our arrival at this magnificent academy. My delegation and I are profoundly happy with what seen and heard about this college. No doubt you are doing a commendable job. I implore you to keep up the good work and please, don t forget to always aim for greater excellence. A well trained military is certainly good for Uganda but a good institution of learning is good for all of us since we too will make use of this institution, as we already do. Tribute to UPDF Mr. President, My visit to Kimaka Commandant Staff College this afternoon, affords me the rare opportunity to pay tribute to the Uganda People s Defence Force (UPDF). I salute the UPDF for its invaluable contribution to the current peace and stability that this country enjoys. I also salute Ugandan armed forces for it s tremendous contribution to peace building efforts in our region as a whole, both the Great Lakes Region and the greater East Africa. Today Uganda is more secure, thanks to UPDF. Uganda is, today, very stable thanks to UPDF; and Uganda is, today, a bastion of democracy and an economy on the move again thanks to UPDF. It is you the gallant officers and men
of UPDF, under the very able leadership of their supreme Commander and the Commander-in-Chief of Ugandan Armed Forces, my brother His Excellency President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, who have contributed a great deal in making Uganda what it is today. No doubt Uganda is a better country to live in and do business. You have done this with your sweat and toil. Sometimes you did so by making the supreme sacrifice with your life. On behalf of the people and government of Tanzania and on my own behalf, I salute you all for your patriotism and heroism. You have done Uganda proud; you have done Africa proud and you have done your friends like Tanzania proud. It is because of your selfless sacrifice and extraordinary sense of patriotism that Uganda is now once gain the Pearl of Africa that shining example of enviable progress in our continent. You deserve our full and unreserved praise. East African Integration Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen; After this brief digression, let me now come back to what brought me here. I have been asked to give a lecture of opportunity. I thank you for being considerate. In this regard, I have chosen to speak about East African integration. I have chosen this subject because it is a
matter of that is very dear to our two countries. Besides, it is the topic of the day in our part of the continent. As we all know, the three countries which today form the East African Community Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania have a long history of cooperation and integration. That history dates back to 1897 with the construction of the Kenya-Uganda Railway by the British colonial government. The railway which was completed in 1901 sewed the seeds of cooperation and integration in East Africa. The decision by colonial Uganda in 1990, to establish a Customs Collection Centre for Uganda goods, at Mombasa and later Tanga was the precursor to the Customs Union and in fact, the genesis of integration in East Africa. This was to be followed later by Monetary Union, and several common services such as Postal services, East African Court of Appeal and many more. Initially, the cooperation and integration projects and programmes involved only Kenya and Uganda. Tanganyika joined later after becoming part of the British Empire following Germany s defeated in the First World War. They lost their colonies to the British with regards to Tanganyika and the Belgians with regard to Burundi and Rwanda. The whole of East Africa then came under British rule. The British colonial government then continued to consolidate the East African integration process. It added, on top of what had been previously created, the East African Governors Conference (1926), the East African Income Tax Board (1940) and the Joint Economic Council (1940) and many more.
By 1948, the integration process was by and large almost complete and East Africa was a de facto one economic entity. The only thing that was amiss was being one political and administrative entity to manage and oversee this East African economic entity. An East African federation was considered a few times but was not concretized. The Governors of the three British colonies then came up with idea of the East African High Commission. This was the institution where the three of them would meet to coordinate, decide and regulate East African affairs. Before the advent of Tanganyika s independence, the Governors realized that there was need to transform the East African High Commission to accommodate the new realities in East Africa. Of course, it would have been odd for the colonial Governors of Uganda and Kenya to sit at the same table with Julius Nyerere of independent Tanganyika to discuss East African affairs. This resulted into the creation of the East African Common Services Organisation in 1961. With the independence of Uganda in 1962 and that of Kenya in 1963, it became evident that a completely new political landscape had emerged. This required a new integration institution to reflect and accommodate the changed circumstance. A new institution, created by independent Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika. A Commission set up to look into the matter recommended the establishment of the East African Community which came into being in 1967. Collapse of the Community in 1977
This new regional integration organization was unfortunately, to last for only ten years hence its collapse in 1977. This was the result of a myriad of factors. Among the several reasons which lead to collapse I would like to single out three critical ones and share some views on them. Firstly, there was the polluted or charged political-diplomatic environment in East Africa. There was no love lost between the three East African countries. After the 1971 military coup by Idd Amin Dada in Uganda, the relations between Tanzania and Uganda became severed. President Julius Nyerere of Tanzania refused to recognize the Idd Amin s government and vowed not to sit at the same table with him. Deep mistrust and hostility brewed and culminated in the 1978 80 war between Tanzania and Uganda. The relations between Tanzania and Kenya were not good either. The root cause was the fact that the two sister and friendly republics subscribed to different, but conflicting ideologies. Tanzania was socialist and Kenya was capitalist. Unfortunately, this was the time of the East-West rivalry and conflict which was essentially ideological. Naturally, therefore, Kenya and Tanzania were by default drawn into this game with bitter consequences. Unfortunately, the Community was to pay the price. The exchanges were acrimonious, full of swear words and insults. At the same time the relations between Kenya and Uganda could be characterized as that of mistrust and uneasiness. Again, it was Idd Amin who was to blame in a way. His antics military bravados and his expansionist
tendencies as evidenced by claims on part of Tanzania as well as Kenyan territories engendered fear and mistrust of Idd Amin among both Kenyans and Tanzanians. In this regard, therefore, the atmosphere of political-diplomatic relations was polluted. The air was foul and, sadly, the victim was to be the East African Community. The ultimate East African Community authority, the Summit, could not meet. Decisions of the Summit were made through minute sheets and exchange of notes circulated by the Secretariat to individual Head of State for approval and signature. But, there were many issues and decisions which could be handled best through discussions and dialogue. This was never to be. In the end the unresolved issues overwhelmed the backbone of the Community and naturally lead to its eventual collapse. Among the serious issues which could not be resolved was the issue of imbalances in benefits and the lack of compensatory mechanisms. These needed urgent attention because they had boiled to a breaking point. The mechanism for diffusing the tension and properly handling such issues was crippled. The other factor that precipitated the break-up of the Community was, the hostile international environment. This was the time when the Cold War was at its height. The major power blocs were pulling the East Africans towards their sides. In the process they were actually pulling them apart. Consciously or unconsciously we became pawns in the game, unfortunately. Again, it is the Community that ultimately suffered, because there were no efforts by the international Community to bring the East African nations closer. Instead efforts were expended for break-up. Indeed, ultimately, the Community collapsed under such hostile circumstances. The hostility continued translating itself into the war
between Uganda and Tanzania and bitter war of words between Kenya and Tanzania. Umbritch commission After the break-up of the Community, the three countries set up the Umbritch Commission to handle the share of assets and liabilities of the defunct institution. On 14 May, 1984 in Arusha, the East Africa Community Mediation Agreement was signed. Article 14.02 proposed that the three countries explore ways of cooperation in future. This was to create the window which later revived the cooperation to the extend we see it today. Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen; I have deliberately taken you down the history memory lane because I believe that it is always important to remember where we have come from in order for us to appreciate where we are and where we are headed to. Similarly, without a proper understanding of where we have come from, it would be difficult for us to learn from our past mistakes. For, even today our people are still wary of the past. Despite our determination to build a new East African Community, the majority of the people still harbour the fear that if the former Community was allowed to collapse what guarantees are there to prevent the present Community from meeting the same fate. These are indeed genuine fears which we ought to address as we move forward towards greater integration. In my opinion, one way of doing so is to revisit the factors which led to the demise of the former East African Community.
The whole idea here is to draw lessons from past experience. The purpose is to ensure that mistakes of the past are avoided and the new institution is built on a firm foundation. Indeed, this factor has been observed to the extent that at times it has been perceived by some as undue delays which can be done away with. I harbour a different view. We should not ignore the past and despise those who exercise caution. I believe caution and patience will deliver to East African viable regional integration arrangements, implementable and the kind that everyone feels benefiting from the association. Having said that, I should also hasten to say that caution should not mean indefinite time for discussion and taking decision and actions. I stand on the side of those who would like to see measurable and timebound objectives and targets. Current Situation Ladies and Gentlemen, The situation in East Africa and the world gives me every reason to hope for sustainable success this time around. Today the political climate in our region is good, if not excellent. At the moment our leaders in the three East African countries see eye to eye on many issues local, regional and international. They speak with one voice on most issues. There are little discernible differences and where they arise they are amicably sorted out. Similarly, the cold war is over and the forces of division and bitter rivalry are no more. Instead, the international environment is now more supportive of our
integration efforts. There is currently a global appreciation and consensus on the importance of regional integration as a vehicle for economic development especially for countries in the South where we belong. This is also the case with even the developed countries the efforts seen in Europe. North America, Latin America and the Asian Region. Consequently, we have seen a lot of support both moral and material for our integration efforts. There has also been change in the internal factors too within East Africa. For example, the general mood of our people in East Africa today is towards greater integration. Our people see the beauty of being in a larger economic and political entity, although not at any cost. I believe this is one of the reasons why there has so far been a lot of goodwill in building the present East African Community. There could be other reasons, but obviously this is one of them. As a matter of fact, many East Africans who saw or lived and worked during the life of the defunct Community cherish with nostalgia its resumption or in fact, its resurrection. Life was easy and better when everything was East African. Moreover, this time around we are more careful on our approach to integration. We seem to have learnt from past experience, especially mistakes. The approach we have adopted, works very well. Firstly, the idea of avoiding common ownership of services, for now, has saved us from bitter feelings of unfair treatment. Making the Community a facilitating institution for trade and growth in and between member states engenders harmony. The principle of consensus is a major insurance policy for stability. The idea that we have to agree on anything that we want to do before we
implement it befits the moment. It engenders a win-win situation which is so critical for our integration efforts. For every step we take in the integration process we give ourselves enough time to discuss and agree. For instance, it took us four (4) solid years to agree on the East African Customs Union. Although at a certain stage it drew unwarranted criticism from some quarters, at the end of the day, we came up with a solid agreement which everybody felt happy about. The wisdom of giving ourselves time has been proven a very wise thing to do. Again, if you were to ask me, I will say that this is the best way to go. For, building a harmonious and viable Community we need to be guided by the principle of consensus which takes into account the interests of each member state. Besides that the idea of involving all key stakeholders on major issues of the Community deserves praise and recognition. It renders legitimacy and moral strength to such issues and decisions taken. This is why we have decided to involve the people of East Africa on the issue of the fast-tracking the East African Federation. I am sure in this way we will be able to have a sustainable Community and avoid pitfalls of the past.
Role of Armed Forces Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen; The Armed Forces of Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania have a role to play in the building of a strong integrated East Africa. It is, therefore, important for the Commanders who are in this room and elsewhere in our military establishments to know this. There is, first and foremost, the role of our men and women in uniforms as citizen of East Africa. They are expected to participate fully as responsible citizens, in the creation and nurturing of this new enterprise called the East African Community as everybody else does. But, our militaries have the specific role of promoting cooperation among the Armed Forces of our three member states. Integration succeeds best where peace and security reigns. Peace and security reigns where the military functions best. Military cooperation, therefore, is an important building block for cooperation and integration in East Africa. The 1998 Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Defence is an important instrument in this regard. The East African Armed forces have to see to it that the objectives of the MoU are fully implemented. I must admit that I have not done an audit on its implementation but I can honestly say from what that I see, that I am encouraged by the emerging cooperation.
I believe you could do more in areas of training and field exercises. Also you could share experience and work together in matters of disaster relief operations. At future dates we could look into important issues like mutual defence pact and non aggression pact. You could also look into the possibility of joint operations on terrorism, arms trafficking as well as peace-keeping. You could also deal with drug trafficking and other vices in East Africa if called to assist civil authority. Having said this, I want to use this opportunity to commend all our Armed Forces in the three member States for the very successful joint exercises conducted in the last few years. Apart from helping to strengthen the capabilities of our Armed Forces in handling natural disasters and peace-keeping, these exercises are important in fostering East African consciousness among Commanders and their soldiers. They are also vital in enhancing confidence-building measures (CBMs) which is essential for the promotion of East African cooperation in defence. We should conduct more of such exercises as a deliberate move to strengthen our combined capabilities in this key area. Conclusion Mr. President,
In conclusion, let me say that Tanzania is strongly committed to the building of an integrated and economically prosperous East Africa. Let me also assure you that our commitment to the East African political federation is unequivocal. We are ourselves a nation created out of a merger of two sovereign nations. We see a lot of merit and benefits of nations coming together into one sovereignty. At the same time after 42 years of our union, we think we have some useful experience to share with our other colleagues on the areas of strength to promote and areas of difficulties to avoid. We stand ready to work for a federated East Africa. To us it is a long standing dream of our revered leader, who also happens to be my mentor, the late Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, First President and Father of the Tanzania nation. As you may know, Mwalimu Nyerere was ready to postpone Tanganyika s independence and wait for Uganda and Kenya if that would have helped the Federation project. When it became evident that it was not going to be, Tanganyika and Zanzibar went ahead in the hope that when the others are ready, we will join ranks. What is going on now in East Africa is probably a sign in that direction. Let us seize the moment. I hope the military will join in and render the requisite support to civil authority and the East African citizenry at large. Ladies and Gentlemen: Before I conclude let me say that I have argued the case for desirability of cooperation and integration in East Africa. I traveled the memory lane to underscore the fact that we are not reinventing the wheel. It is something that has been there and created benefits. But, I have also demonstrated that however beneficial it may be, there are
threats to its very existence as it has been proven in the past. There is need to be vigilant but more importantly to avoid mistakes of the past. We must learn from experience of the defunct East African Community as we traverse the process of revival and renewal. I also suggest that let us be wary of people who care most about selfish interests and ignore or despise group or communal interests. Such people can predate on the integration and cooperation efforts being expended now by committed East Africans. They should not be allowed to dictate terms. Your Excellency; Commanders and Officers of UPDF; I thank you once again for this opportunity. I wish all of you well. We are enjoying our stay in Uganda, thanks to the hospitality and generosity of the people of Uganda. We look forward to work with all the people of Uganda and Kenya in the efforts to realize full integration of East Africa. It can be done, Play Your Part Gold Bless East Africa, God Bless Africa. I thank you all for your attention.