Museveni Takes A Sly Dig At Ruto During The EAC Summit

Museveni Takes A Sly Dig At Ruto During The EAC Summit

On Friday, November 29, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni quietly criticized President William Ruto for multiple import limitations enforced by Kenya on Ugandan products.

Museveni appeared to be making a sly dig at Ruto regarding the import limits on milk, corn, and other agricultural products.

He was addressing the 24th East African Community Ordinary Summit of Heads of State in Arusha, Tanzania.

In his harsh appraisal of the EAC’s operations, Museveni accused countries of predatory behavior by enforcing bans on member-state products just to request additional imports a year or two later.

While he did not mention Kenya or President Ruto by name, his words indicated a strained trading relationship between the two countries.

I cannot be part of that historical mistake – Yoweri Museveni lectures leaders for setting up trade bans with fellow EAC countries pic.twitter.com/BTIoP2Ebmk
— Kenyans.co.ke (@Kenyans) November 30, 2024

“You hear people say that country X has a bumper harvest this year and will therefore not allow products from other countries to enter that market,” he claimed.

“What then happens is that producers of that product migrate to other enterprises and forget about the banned product,” Museveni added.

“Two years down the line you hear that there is a shortage of the same product in country X and that they now want to import the product.”

“Unfortunately, you find that by that time the product is no longer being produced in the country that was blocked,” he further posited.

Museveni’s remarks come in the aftermath of import curbs that endanger the two countries’ bilateral relations.

In May 2023, the Kenya Dairy Board (KDB) ceased providing permits for Uganda milk powder product imports.

According to KTB, the measure was intended to defend the industry from low prices and surplus output. This reintroduced a 2021 restriction on Ugandan milk products.

Aside from harming bilateral relations, the limitations have impacted key actors, with up to 114 permits denied by the board.

Furthermore, in March 2021, Kenya restricted maize imports from Uganda due to high levels of mycotoxins, which have been linked to cancer.

Kenya later repealed the restriction with rigorous conditions for exporters, including registration and compliance with maximum aflatoxin levels.

The Kenyan government similarly prohibited poultry products from Uganda in 2021, although this prohibition was eventually reversed.

Kenya, on the other hand, restored harsh regulations on poultry goods, levying a tax of Ksh72 per tray.

This move reignited previously existing trade conflicts, severely hurting Kenya-Uganda economic relations.

The longest-serving East African president further stated that he would not be lured into a tit-for-tat situation, describing it as a ‘historical mistake.’

“For instance, even though Uganda is producing a lot of maize, we have never banned maize products from other East African countries,” Museveni stated.

“We have a lot of milk products, however, we have never banned milk products from other countries.”

Museveni went on a tangent, criticizing other EAC leaders for imposing trade barriers on neighboring countries.

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“Despite the great progress made by the EAC over the years, there are still obstacles that stunt the growth of our community,” he claimed.

“For instance, take the usual banning or unlicensing of products so that they do not enter the other member states.”

Kenya has been Uganda’s primary trade partner in the EAC region. In 2017, trade volume between the two countries exceeded one billion dollars.

According to a recent survey, Tanzania has surpassed Kenya as Uganda’s biggest import supplier.

Museveni Takes A Sly Dig At Ruto During The EAC Summit