RWANDA AND UGANDA OWES US AN EXPLANATION

As the twentieth century came to a close with the collapse of the Berlin Wall and re-unification of Germany, it was assumed that co-operation among states would hence forth be taken for granted. Then Trump happened and across the Atlantic, Brexit was unleashed unto the world. “I don’t want to be the President of the world, I want to be the President of United States of America,” Trump declared. In Britain which at some point ruled over a quarter of the world population, politicians started going provincial and throwing epithets at Brussels. In our own backyard if not actual yard, the recent spat between Rwanda and Uganda must be taken very seriously. The articles establishing the East African Community are rather clear on the fact that the community is people centred. In fact, the very reason for the collapse of the original East African Community was political greed and grandstanding. This is why it is heartening that a group within the civil society has moved to the East African Court of Justice to seek clarification on the issue that must have led to partial border closure between the two countries. Article 5 of the East African Community, Treaty states that the member shall develop policies and programmes aimed at widening and deepening co-operation among partner states

Such declaration must come alive in the daily reality of the citizens of East Africa.