KENYA: Uhuru Kenyatta's scorecard at the helm of EAC@Eastafricanreport

Uhuru Kenyatta's scorecard at the helm of EAC

Presidents Uhuru Kenyatta (Kenya), Paul Kagame (Rwanda) and Felix Tshisekedi (Democratic Republic of Congo) after DRC signed the treaty integrating Kinshasa into the East Africa trade bloc, at State House in Nairobi on April 8, 2022. PHOTO | TONY KARUMBA | AFP

Summary @ Eastafricanreport.com

The region views him as the president who expanded the EAC membership by overseeing the admission of the Democratic Republic of Congo, oversaw the region’s recovery from effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and fixed the Kenya-Tanzania trade disputes.
But critics also point to ever-emerging non-trade barriers; trade disputes between Uganda and Kenya; elusive peace in Eastern DR Congo and poor Uganda-Rwanda relations.

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With the clock ticking towards President Uhuru Kenyatta’s exit as the East African Community Summit chairperson this May, opinion is divided on his legacy.The region views him as the president who expanded the EAC membership by overseeing the admission of the Democratic Republic of Congo, oversaw the region’s recovery from effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and fixed the Kenya-Tanzania trade disputes.

But critics also point to ever-emerging non-trade barriers; trade disputes between Uganda and Kenya; elusive peace in Eastern DR Congo and poor Uganda-Rwanda relations.

President Kenyatta took over the chairmanship of the EAC in February 2021 from Rwanda’s Paul Kagame at a time the world was facing a global health pandemic.

His term comes to an end this May, three months to Kenya’s General Election.

He is expected to hand over the chairmanship to Burundi’s Evariste Ndayishimiye.