“President Kenyatta will urge greater speed in implementing projects, with a sharp focus on continuing the agenda of promoting the free movement of people across EAC and the wider African continent,” said State House Spokesperson Manoah Esipisu in a statement released Wednesday/PSCU
NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 22 – President Uhuru Kenyatta has travelled to Kampala, Uganda, to attend an East African Community summit whose agenda is to deepen regional integration through infrastructure development and financing for health.
During the three-day official visit, President Kenyatta will attend a presidential retreat on financing infrastructure and health before attending the 19th Ordinary Summit of the East African Community Heads of State.
Providing affordable healthcare is one of President Kenyatta’s Big Four plan for transforming Kenya’s economy. The other three planks of the President’s agenda for his second term are affordable housing, enhanced manufacturing and value addition as well as food security and nutrition.
At the presidential retreat that takes place Thursday, President Kenyatta is expected to showcase the progress Kenya has made in investments in infrastructure over the last five years and also emphasise his commitment to a more integrated approach in infrastructure development for the region.
“President Kenyatta will urge greater speed in implementing projects, with a sharp focus on continuing the agenda of promoting the free movement of people across EAC and the wider African continent,” said State House Spokesperson Manoah Esipisu in a statement released Wednesday.
The joint retreat of the EAC leaders is expected to give impetus to infrastructure and health development by harnessing political support for regional flagship projects, funding commitments, and Public-Private Partnership arrangements.
The retreat was preceded by roundtables that brought together representatives of member countries and investors and donors.
On Friday, the President will attend the 19th Ordinary Summit of the EAC, whose theme is “Deepening and widening regional integration through Infrastructure and Health Sector Development in the EAC Partner States.’ The EAC is composed of Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan.
The President is also expected to speak on Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) arrangements between the EAC and the European Union.
On his way back home on Saturday, the President will make a stop-over in Busia to commission a one-stop border post in the town.
The one-stop border facility is part of the measures Kenya has spearheaded to ease the movement of goods and people within the EAC region.
The concept combines two national border controls into one thereby reducing the time it takes to clear goods and people across the shared borders. This reduces costs and overall time it takes to transport goods from one point in the region to another.
The first one-stop border post to be commissioned under the EAC integration plan was at Taveta/Holili on the Kenya-Tanzania border.
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