Internal bickering amongst states’ representatives and diplomats of the East African Community (EAC) is yet to stop, and this has been escalated by internal misunderstandings in the regional bloc’s ranks.
This follows a rebuking letter to the secretariat, written by Uganda’s first deputy prime minister Honourable Rebecca Kadaga, who is also the state’s minister for East African affairs.
In this letter, which was also addressed to other member states, Honourable Kadaga informed the former that he should not have responded to Uganda’s earlier made request, due to the fact that he is just an employee and has no right to respond to any missive or request made by a member state.
Uganda’s representative also contended that the secretary’s demands were unfair, based on flimsy grounds and could not guarantee any changes in decisions taken by the member states. She also decried the unprofessional conduct exhibited by the secretary by claiming to have received the letter at a later time.
“The letter was from a partner state and therefore you had no locus standi to respond. The letter should have been transmitted to partner states of Burundi, Rwanda, Kenya, the United Republic of Tanzania and the Republic of South Sudan. The secretary-general is an employee of partner states and cannot take decisions on their behalf, or even take a position,” read the letter.
Honourable Kadaga ruled out the possibility of EAC organs and institutions interviews, not until partner states are informed about such developments.
“I, therefore, reiterate my position that there should be no interviews conducted unless and until all partner states have been given information about its Quota,” read the letter.
Uganda’s representative also demanded a written apology from the secretary for the state, for what she termed an “illegitimate response to my letter”. According to Ms Kadaga, the response by the general secretary was illegal and uncalled for, due to the fact that a secretary-general is just a mere employee and not a representative of any member state.
“I further demand a written apology to the Republic of Uganda for illegitimate response to my letter, since you are not a partner state and can ursup powers of member states,” demanded Ms. Kadaga.
She also reminded him one of the reasons for the failure and eventual collapse of the EAC in 1977. According to her, the predecessor of the current EAC collapsed due to unequal sharing of benefits of the bloc amongst partner states.
“I need not to remind you that one of the reasons for the previous collapse of the old EAC was disproportionate sharing of benefits of community among member states,” she wrote.
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