The East African Community (EAC) already has enough on its plate and, as such, is not supposed to squander time on rivalries. It is sad, therefore, that there has been bad blood among the EAC partners.

Some years back, we had the Coalition of the Willing. Now Burundi and Rwanda are wary of each other. The community has daunting challenges for individual partner states to tackle.

Poverty, high unemployment, terrorism, infrastructure woes, non-tariff barriers and high business costs chillingly dangle on the bloc like the Sword of Damocles, so to speak.

Poverty is biting; terrorists have been striking and businesses have been torpedoed.

Kenya had been under deadly terrorist attacks, the last one as late as last month at the luxury DusitD2 hotel in Nairobi, which claimed 21 lives.

The new EAC chairman, Rwanda President Paul Kagame, has aptly warned that terrorism is an emerging challenge that must be tamed by all means – and requires acting jointly.

The immediate-past EAC chairman, Uganda President Yoweri Museveni, decried the high cost of doing business among the partner states, particularly transportation hurdles.

We call on the EAC leaders to ensure unity for the benefit of 170 million East Africans and posterity.

Source: The Citizen