Lake Lengijave, Arusha – 28 April 2009
Chairperson of the East African Community during the official inauguration of the Arusha-Namanga
• Your Excellencies Heads of State of East African Community Partner States;
• Dr. Donald Kaberuka, President of the African Development Bank Group;
• Representative of the Japan International Cooperation Agency;
• Honourable Ministers;
• Honourable Regional Commissioner of Arusha;
• Your Lordship the Mayor of Arusha;
• Heads of EAC Organs and Institutions;
• Chairperson, East African Business Council;
• Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen:
It is my great pleasure to participate in the launching of the modernization works of the Arusha-Namanga-Athi-River Road – an important infrastructure for the East African Community.
This occasion signifies an important milestone in our regional integration process because at the heart of any such efforts is the creation of regional infrastructure and other supportive facilities.
This initiative we are here to witness today, which is part of the East African Road Network Project, sets the stage for realizing our strategic development objectives – and I have no doubt that this project will substantially improve our supply side capacities as we strive to make our industries, and the region in general, more competitive.
Dear Friends;
We congratulate the governments and people of Kenya and Tanzania for undertaking this crucial regional infrastructure work that will most certainly spur growth of trade, investments and other economic activities.
Let us also express sincere gratitude to our development partners supporting this effort, notably the Japan International Cooperation Agency and the African Development Bank.
I am sure that our public officials in Customs, Immigration and Police will work even harder to facilitate the smooth and speedier movement of goods and services along this modern corridor – we look to them to prevent actions that may undermine its optimal use for prosperity-creation and development.
Once this highway is completed, I am certain that we will see greater flows of commerce and trade from the Port of Mombasa to Northern Tanzania, as well as larger volumes of tourists to Kenyan and Tanzanian national parks in these parts of our Community.
Excellencies
I hope that this road construction will be completed in the expected timeframe, and that it is a first rate work – in this respect we look forward to congratulating the construction team upon its completion.
With these brief remarks, I wish to reiterate our heartfelt thanks to our sister nations of Kenya and Tanzania for undertaking this major work, and to our development partners, namely, the Japan International Cooperation Agency and the African Development Bank for their support in making this project in our region realizable.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR KIND ATTENTION