NGURDOTO LODGE BACK ON RADAR AS IT HOSTS

BY GRACE MACHA IN ARUSHA

Ngurdoto Mountain Lodge is set to bounce back on the radar as it prepares to host the East African Community (EAC) summit on November 23rd and 24th.

The 300 room lodge, opened 20 years ago,used to host high profile regional conferences until 2016 when its fortunes dimmed.

Until then , it hosted at least five summits of the regional heads of state, competing with the Arusha International Conference Centre (AICC) which hosted at least seven.

The lodge was not only the favourite venue of the EAC meetings but other high profile international conferences that Arusha hosted during those days.

The EAC Heads of State met there in August 2007,April 2009, December 2010, April 2013 and March 2016; the latter being their last meeting at the venue.  

The other regional summits that took place in Arusha were reserved for the AICC in the heart of the city but this time around it will be back to the lodge.

Part of the lodge, owned by the late business tycoon in Arusha Meleo Mrema, was at one time temporarily converted into a students' hostel.

Besides 300 sleeping rooms, Ngurdoto Lodge which is located some 27 km north east of Arusha  city, has several huge conference halls for hosting meetings.

Officials of the EAC secretariat confirmed that the two-day summit would, indeed, take place at the lodge located some 27km from Arusha city.

Sources said for a couple of weeks the lodge has been spruced up in readiness for the leaders' meeting which draws many delegates.

This year's summit will include a high level forum on food security, climate change and environmental sustainability which will take place at the hospitality outfit on November 23rd.

The summit proper will take place on Friday November 24th and will be attended by the Heads of State from the seven partner states or their representatives.

The current EAC chair president President Evariste Ndayishimiye of Burundi is expected to hand over the mantle to South Sudan leader President Salvar Kiir.

The rest of the pre-summit meetings will take place at the EAC headquarters which started to be a hive of activity from early this week as delegates from different countries streamed in. 

The ministerial segment took place on Wednesday November 22nd under the EAC Council of Ministers, a powerful policy making organ answerable only to the summit.

Food security will top the agenda of the  Heads of State Summit as the challenges of climate change.

The meeting will take place at a time when the seven-nation bloc is grappling with the violence in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

The crisis has seen four of the seven member countries deploying troops to North Kivu where the country's troops have been battling with M23 insurgents. 

The EAC, on its part, has also deployed its own East African Regional Force (EARF) to restore peace and order in the restive region.

This will be the first time for a  South Sudan leader to take over as new Chair of the EAC since his country joined the bloc in 2016.

The chairmanship of the EAC Summit, the supreme organ of the Community, is a rotating position that is held by each member state for a one-year term.