EDITOR’S NOTE: You are crossing into the Twilight Zone.
(KBC) – Prime Minister Raila Odinga on Monday said Kenya may import power from Ethiopia [where the capital Addis Ababa goes dark several times a week] following the current national shortage of hydro-electric supply.
Mr. Odinga said plans to transmit power from South Africa fell through this year after the country began experiencing a power shortage.
The PM who was holding talks with the IGAD Secretary-General Mr Mahaboub Mohammed in his office said the body had been central in promoting peace in East African region and Horn of Africa but must now meet its regional mandates of economic growth, food security and infrastructural development.
The PM said with over 14 million people in danger of perennial famine and food insecurity in the region, IGAD must urgently share information on weather patterns.
“IGAD should work in close co-operation with farmers and give meteorological expertise to stop crop failure and the rising costs of food”, said the PM.
The PM said the development agency must revitalize its regional integration plans and hasten the upgrading of infrastructure to expand the economy. “Regional road networks and communication must now be opened on the Northern Corridor through Mombasa, Uganda, Rwanda, DRC and Burundi”.
He said Ethiopia had already constructed their part of the Great North Road from Addis to Khartoum and that the route through Juba, Isiolo, Merille, Marsabit, Kitale-Lodwar, Loki and Juba must now be completed.
He said plans for the construction of the Garissa-Wajir-Mandera route that links Kenya with Ethiopia and Somalia and -major networks and the railway plan from Lamu, Addis-Juba-Uganda and Rwanda were underway.
Mr Mohammed who earlier briefed the PM on IGAD’s status and the regional political dynamics said Eritrea which had suspended its membership to the body had now agreed to rejoin.
He appealed for Kenya’s support to mobilize resources and to undertake staff rationalization in conjunction with UNECA.
Mr. Mahaboub said he would seek for the support of the Council of Minister meeting in Addis later in the month.
“The blue print on regional integration is ready and we’ve asked EU to partner with us for cross-cutting infrastructure”.
IGAD has managed conflict management and largely controlled raids on livestock in the last two years.
It has also intervened in volatile areas in Sudan, Eritrea, Djibouti and made a political transformation in the region.
Somalia however, remains a serious challenge with the unrest there affecting the entire sub-region, especially Kenya.