By PREMY KIBANGA THE EASTAFRICAN

UGANDA HAS agreed to slow down its push to have Rwanda admitted to the East Africa Co-operation, given the present tensions in the Great Lakes region and the mood of a ministerial meeting on the eve of last week's heads of government summit in Arusha.

Uganda's Foreign Minister Eriya Kategaya, who succeeded Tanzania Foreign Affairs Minister Jakaya Kikwete as EAC Commission Chairman, told The EastAfrican at the end of the summit: "According to President Museveni, there is no problem. We shall wait until the treaty has been signed."

A draft treaty to establish the Co-operation, which is presently under discussion in the three countries, has a section on the admission of new members.

Uganda, which together with Rwanda is backing rebels fighting to remove President Laurent Kabila from power in the Democratic Republic of Congo, urged the ministerial commission meeting, which went on up to midnight last Thursday, to list the Rwanda application among the issues to be discussed by the heads of state the next day.

But representatives of Kenya and Tanzania opposed the proposal, preferring to have the matter considered after the ratification of the treaty, scheduled for July.

The Permanent Tripartite Commission of the EAC had in December 1996 directed the Secretariat to conduct a study to establish possible options for admission of other countries to the Co-operation. The directive followed an application by Rwanda in September to join the regional grouping.

Tanzania and Kenya representasaid there was no need to rush into discussing the application as the heads of state had yet to examined the criteria proposed by the Permanent Tripartite Commission for admission of new applicants.

"What if the final treaty comes out with new recommendations, what basis shall we say we have used to admit a new member?" asked Kenya's Foreign Minister Bonaya Godana.

A Tanzanian delegate to the closed meeting suggested that since there was no consensus, the Rwanda issue should be dropped from the official agenda and only be discussed in the summit if the heads of state chose to do so.

As it turned out, the heads of state did choose to adress the Rwanda application, with president Yoweri Museveni saying in his opening remarks: "We should not hesitate to take advantage of any growth in our membership as long as there are justifying economic linkages to what is already being promoted in the Cooperation."

Sources present at the summit, which was held in camera, later told The EastAfrican that President Daniel arap Moi had agreed in principle to admission of Rwanda into the Co-operation but said the matter could only be discussed after the treaty had been signed.

President Benjamain Mkapa reportedly shared Mr Moi's stance on waiting until the treaty was signed. He did say that the bigger the union, the more advantageous it would be for all members.

The Friday summit moved co-operation a step farther, with the signing of a joint foreign policy memorandum by the foreign affairs ministers. The agreement will allow diplomatic missions of Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania abroad to work together on several areas.

Under the agreement, the three partner states can appoint one embassy to represent their interests abroad. Nationals of the three states will be able to have visa applications processed in any of the embassies representing Kenya, Uganda or Tanzania. The three countries will also pursue a common policy in such international fora as the UN and the OAU.

Since the signing of the agreement establishing East African Cooperation six years ago, considerable progress has been made in harmonisation of economic policies, and easing of cross-border movement of people, goods and services.

There is a joint East African passport, total convertability of the three currencies, consultation on budgetary proposals, and cross border listing on the stock exchanges.

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