President Robert Mugabe arrives in Kampala, Uganda for joint summit

[XXPANTHAXX]

From Sydney Kawadza in Kampala, Uganda

PRESIDENT Mugabe arrived here yesterday for the historic joint East African Community, Common Market for East and Southern Africa and Sadc summit starting today.

Senior Government officials accompanied the President.

Vice President Cde Joice Mujuru will be Acting President in Cde Mugabe’s absence.

President Mugabe joins 25 other Heads of State and Government expected at the tripartite summit that precedes the realignment of the three regions’ trade relations.

Cde Mugabe was met at Entebbe International Airport by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Cde Samuel Mumbengegwi; the Minister of Industry and International Trade, Cde Obert Mpofu; and Ugandan Minister of Local Government, Mr Kahindo Otafire.

He immediately went into a briefing with Cde Mpofu and Cde Mumbengegwi before attending a State banquet hosted by Ugandan President Mr Yoweri Museveni.

Comesa assistant secretary-general Mr Stephen Karingizi said the three regional communities were building blocks to a single economic community for Africa.

"The summit will discuss trade barriers and infrastructure development aimed at harmonising commerce in the region," he said.

Preliminary meetings of ministers and officials began on Sunday ahead of the leaders’ summit.

Among issues to be discussed at the summit are the status of trade liberalisation, regional infrastructure, legal and institutional arrangements in the three trading blocs.

The tripartite framework and arrangement among the secretariats of Comesa, EAC and Sadc was initiated in Kigali, Rwanda, in 2005.

It was born out of the realisation that the issue of overlapping membership in regional economic communities posed a major challenge to the integration efforts of the three trading blocs.

The Kampala summit, however, seeks to hasten the achievement of African economic and political integration under the African Union agenda.

The EAC-Comesa-Sadc tripartite group summit is the first since the formation of the AU where key building blocs are meeting to discuss ways of integrating territories while moving towards deepening and widening integration, within the Abuja Treaty for the establishment of the African Economic Community.

The meeting is expected to decide on matters related to enhancing co-operation among EAC, Comesa and Sadc countries, including deepening trade, investments and infrastructure, linking transport corridors, promoting joint projects to boost industrialisation, agriculture and food security.

It would also look at issues that would enable free movement of people between the three regional economic communities with the ultimate aim of creating a single market and investment area.

The three regional blocs have a total population of 527 million and a combined GDP of US$625 billion.

President Mugabe will assume the chairmanship of Comesa, taking over from Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki at a summit scheduled for Victoria Falls in December.