Kenya will defend its democracy but continue to embrace a peaceful and cordial relationship with her Eastern African neighbours for the common good of the region.
Cabinet Secretary for EAC, Arid and Semi-Arid Lands and Regional Development, Peninah Malonza, has underscored the country’s commitment to respecting the democracy of sovereign states within the region as stipulated in the East Africa community trading treaty, thus ensuring peace and harmony were maintained across all the nations in the region.
She told residents at the Kwa Vonza trading centre in Kitui Rural constituency that President William Ruto and his Uganda counterpart, Yoweri Museveni, were set to meet to address the ongoing fuel importation row between the two countries in efforts to resolve amicably the teething issues while also ensuring that cordial relations between the two countries were maintained.
Early last year, Uganda made an application to use Kenya’s pipeline to transport its fuel directly to Kampala, but Kenya declined the request, citing that such a move could affect local oil marketing companies.
As such, Uganda took Kenya to the East African Court of Justice, citing Kenyan fuel marketing middlemen as the key overseers of the current high pump prices in Kampala, even as the global prices of the product continue to fall.
Kenya is a gateway for the export and import of goods for several countries in the region, including Uganda. Kenya supplies about 90 per cent of Uganda’s fuel.
The Cabinet Secretary gave the assurance during an inspection tour of ongoing national government projects and later presided over the distribution of relief food to residents who had been negatively affected by the El Nino rains.
She said Kitui County was among thirty-eight counties across the country that have been negatively affected by the rain, including hundreds of residents of Katothya, Kwa vonza, Kiusyani, Kwa Kithui, Nzongoni, Kaluluni, Kanyangi, and Kiseuni areas.
Malonza also promised that the government was working on modalities to provide iron sheets and related materials to flood victims whose houses were damaged by the heavy rains.
On development projects in the constituency, the cabinet secretary said that work on the national government projects, which had stalled owing to the El Nino rains, will resume before the end of this month.
The CS held a meeting with the project’s contractors and engineer, where they discussed the resumption of work and also promised them government commitment to ensure the projects are completed.
The meeting resolved that the engineers should mobilise within one week and resume the project’s work to ensure completion of the project was done as per the agreement of the contract.
“During the last political campaigns, each county had signed a blueprint with the president-elect, and one of the roads that Kitui County signed for was the Seku-Kyandula road, which is already 90 per cent done.” Said the CS Peninah.
She further said that she would officially request the national government projects secretariat and the Cabinet to fastrack the tarmacking of Kwa Vonza to Kyandula Road.
By Happiness Thomas and Stacy Jepchumba
