AFTER THE SIGNING OF BOTH AGREEMENTS FOR CUSTOMS UNION AND COMMON MARKET PROTOCOLS LAST WEEK, THE POLITICAL FEDERATION OF EAST AFRICA IS NOW VERY MUCH FEASIBLE.
News Analysis By Leo Odera Omolo In Kisumu.
BY signing the common market protocol last week, the East African Community has officially ushered in a common market amid renewed commitment by the region’s head of states to expedite the much touted and envisaged political federation of East African states.
The common market protocol was finally signed in the northern Tanzanian town of Arusha last Friday, bringing to an end months of waiting and anxiety.
Contentious issues nearly derailed the grueling negotiations and the signing, and what should have been accomplished earlier this year, was pushed forward to this month, from April, 2009.
At a colorful ceremony to mark the 10th anniversary , which coincided with the EAC bloc’s common market deal, the chairperson of the East African Community Council of Ministers, Ms Monique Mukuyruliza, who is also the Rwandan Minister for the Community Affairs, urged the partner states to expedite its ratification at national level by the scheduled July 1,2010.
The outgoing chair of the EAC Summit, Presidents Paul Kagame of Rwanda, Mwai Kibaki {Kenya}, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni {Uganda}, Pierre Mkurunziza of Burundi and the hosts, Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania and Abeid Amani Karume of Zanzibar, nodded their heads as Ms Mkuruliza said the ball was now in their national courts.
The Minister said Rwanda was the only country in the region with a fast ratification policy, with Tanzania trailing behind, taking longest time, four months.
Despite the disparities, she said, the EAC Ministers had agreed to work closely with their respective countries to push the necessary ratification within the shortest period of time possible.
The coming into force of both the East African Customs Union, and the Common Market, will lead to a short-term loss of revenue, as countries remove internal taxes, and harmonize external duties, as per the common external tariff guidelines.
The expected loss is estimated to run into million of dollars. Rwanda, she said, is the only country that has done a full assessment, and is looking at a loss of USD 12 million, but its EAC Permanent Secretary, Robert Ssali said it is a small price to pay for the expected benefits.
At the signing ceremony, President Kagame handed over the Summit chair to President Jakaya Kikwete.
The EAC Secretary General, Juma V. Mwapachu, said that in the regionalization and globalization era, no one single country can be on its own.
President Kagame, in a his key-note address, said the protocol was a major milestone for the EAC, and attested to its shedding of colonial boundaries and individualism and embracing of globalization.
The Heads of States gave a deadline of six months for a detailed report on the fine-tuning of the federation ,and a committee of experts is to be formed immediately.
Also being fast tracked is a ground for free trade area from Cape Town to Cairo, bringing together the EAC, the Common Market for East and Southern Africa, and the Southern African Development Community, that will remove trade borders among 26 African countries.
A conference in March next year will fine tune documents, to be signed by the Presidents in April, and become operational in December 2010.
Meanwhile, Kenya’s Prime Minister, Raila Odinga, has welcomed the signing of the common market protocol and the EAC Customs Union Act. He said this will bring to an end the harassment of Kenyan fishermen in Lake Victoria.
Speaking at Usenge Beach in Yimbo Location, Bondo district, during the International Fishing Day, Raila Odinga said the two agreements will boost the security in the region.
“The treaty permits the free movement of people, goods and services both on land and in the lake”, said the PM.
He said from now onward, no Kenyan fisherman will again be arrested for trespassing into parts of the lake considered to be in Uganda or Tanzania. Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania have a common security team to make fishing in Lake Victoria more safe.
Illegal fishing nets being used in the lake, said Mr.Odinga, is the only threat to the existence of lake resources. He told the fishermen to act responsibly and conserve the lake resources for the future generation.
The Prime Minister was accompanied by the Fisheries Minister, Dr. Nyongesa Otuoma, the Minister for Regional Development, Fred Gumo and other senior government and local officials..
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