Vice President of Kenya HE Ruto William has criticised the actions of the Rwanda government to close its borders with Uganda, describing it as retrogressive and not in the spirit of integration.
Ruto made these remarks while speaking at the Africa Now conference at Speke Resort Munyonyo.
Speaking at the summit, Ruto said, “Unless Africans can travel, work, study and trade across borders unimpeded by bureaucracy, the continent’s dream of economic emancipation and unification will never be realised. We have made the decision to allow any East African to live and work in Kenya”.
“We are witnessing new forms of organisation across Africa based on shared values, ideas, strategies that transcend the state and are driven by young people. We have new capacities and competencies to forge a stable, peaceful, prosperous future for our youth”.
Ruto further encouraged African countries to promote integration, saying, “Economic integration is critical in enabling Africa take its rightful place in global marketplace. Unless we trade as Africa, we are doomed to fail. Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA) will create a single market for goods, services and increase intra-Africa trade”.