Challenges

Peter Bashir Alawa, the government chief whip in the Parliament of Southern Sudan, led a delegation to "exchange notes with their Kenyan counterparts" and was of the view that while the clock ticked toward D-Day there still were "a lot of negative aspects."

"Voters have not even been registered, the funding mainly from the North is not even forthcoming, there are cases of insecurity, the South itself has issues of accessibility, and we are heavily polarized along the North-South divide," said Alawa.

But that was before the heads of state met and urged the parties "to expeditiously resolve the remaining differences on the issues of border demarcation, the Abyei referendum and post referendum arrangements."

The matter has been forwarded to the African Union Peace and Security Council and even the United Nations is aware of the developments - President Kibaki made the UN aware in its meeting last year in New York.

Kibaki's pivotal role in ensuring peace in Sudan at whatever cost, is partly based on his drive to execute the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement mid-wifed and drawn up in Kenya. Also, it is partly based on the fact that over 70,000 Kenyans are working in the country.

At the time of filing this story, Philip Achuoth Deng, the Southern Sudan Referendum Commission Chairman in Kenya, had informed the Southern Sudan Diaspora of the January 9 to January 15 registration deadline voting.

Uganda too, a regional political powerhouse, will be going for elections in February 2011 to elect a new president or retain the incumbent, Yoweri Museveni.

With their recent discovery of oil, Uganda's politicians and the nation's citizens just want a peaceful election this year, to ensure that they benefit from the proceeds.

Alfred Wandera, a journalist with the Daily Monitor, told ChinAfrica that unless "another major thing comes up, then nothing will beat the elections as a political landmark in 2011."

Wandera said Museveni was poised to clinch the vote.

Tanzania will begin the year 2011 with a golden jubilee - celebrating 50 years since it gained its independence. The finale of the celebrations will be on December 9, 2011. It comes just a year after Nigeria marked its golden jubilee with pomp and ceremony.

In the words of a Nigerian Mawlana Hazar Immam, a nation reaching 50 is no mean feat because it provides an "opportunity to think back over the past half century, to reflect on the challenges we have faced, the goals we have met and the lessons we have been learning…"

Rwanda too is having its day in the sun as it moves to implement the regional trading agreement that is the Common Market. Although it may not be the biggest event in the country, it is certainly one of the crucial achievements bearing in mind the May 2011 deadline for fully automating border posts.

The use of technology will improve the movement of cargo across borders while boosting trade within the region. Thus, it will create the potential for increasing volumes of trade and deepening regional integration within the East Africa Community.

(Reporting from Kenya)