ARUSHA, TANZANIA – Last week, leaders of the East African Community (EAC) met in Arusha, Tanzania. There were two main items on the agenda. First, the induction of South Sudan as a full member state; and second, the launch of the shiny new EAC passport. Of the two, the latter is arguably more significant.

According to a press statement, he gave a score-card of the deliverables during his tenure at the helm citing five key areas in the EAC broad vision and remarked that under his five year tour of duty, the bloc had witnessed significant achievements.

His successor is Burundi national, Dr. Libérat Mfumukeko.

On the Customs Union, Amb. Dr Sezibera remarked that sustained campaigns to ensure realization of the Single Customs Territory (SCT) had duly paid off.

“Today, should one visit the Port of Dar es Salaam right here, you will witness revenue officials from the rest of the Partner States clearing goods,” he said.

“The time within which it takes to clear goods has reduced tremendously. At the central corridor, it now takes 3 days, down from the 18 days while in the northern corridor, there is a significant reduction from 21 days to 5 days,” Amb. Dr Sezibera said.

On the second item, he said that there was sustained pressure to rid the region of Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs) and such, were paying off while the port clearance times were also reduced from three weeks to under 10 days.

On the Common Market, a third item on the row, Amb. Dr Sezibera said that three Partner States, the Republics of Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda, had employed the Inter-State passes to enhance free movement of people and said Republic of Burundi and the United Republic of Tanzania would soon join in to the initiative. The EAC boss termed the recent introduction of the International EAC e-Passport as a critical milestone in the integration dispensation.

The SG in, item four, termed the conclusion and ratification of the Monetary Union as a major milestone.

“Despite the skepticism as a result of the challenges witnessed in Europe, the Monetary Union Protocol was completed and speedily ratified,” Amb. Dr Sezibera said. He said th regional Central Banks had established a real-time settlement mode paving way for the EAC payment system to be a reality.

He told the regional law makers of the tremendous progress realized on other areas, such as the ten year infrastructure programme that would set the region apart from other parts of the continent in terms of competitiveness.

“For the first time, the region is laying the Standard Railway Gauge and making unprecedented advances in investment of energy. The region shall soon be able to transfer power from one Partner State to another as a result of the inter-connectors,” he said.

The Secretary General, whose tour of duty ends this month, further said he was pleased to be leaving the Community at a time when its Vision is in place. The EAC Vision 2050 anticipates the contrive of the bloc into an upper middle income region within a secure and politically united East Africa based on the principles of inclusiveness and accountability.

The SG further informed members of the EALA of the completion of the Institutional Review of the EAC and said the Directorates of Finance and Planning had been ISO certified. Challenges, according to the SG, that need to be addressed includes harmonization and approximation of laws in the Partner States to conform to the Common Market Protocol.
Source: EA Business Week

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