Common Market

East Africans now have a chance to gain from the recent discovery of oil in Uganda following the signing of the Common Market Protocol by the heads of the five states that form the East African Community.

Although the opportunity is eight months away, as the protocol comes into force in July 2010, Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni made it clear at the meeting that marked the approval of the protocol that the oil belongs to East Africa.

“The good thing about oil money, and I mean no offence to agriculture, is that it is more than that from agriculture and can be used for a lot of things. I’ll be talking to the rest of the heads of state about how East Africans can participate in getting some of that money and using that oil money,” said the President in Arusha Friday.

Mr Museveni said the money would be useful in the development of the region’s infrastructure, seen as the most crucial part of efforts to come up with a unified political federation by 2015 and a monetary union by 2012.

Leaders who spoke at the signing ceremony praised the Common Market Protocol as the beginning of a new dawn for the region whose first attempt at forming a federation collapsed spectacularly on its 10th anniversary in 1977.

It was revived in 1999 by presidents Benjamin Mkapa, Daniel arap Moi and Yoweri Museveni, marking the beginning of the process that should end in 2015, when a political federation is established.

Friday’s events were also to celebrate 10 years since the revival of the EAC in 1999. Plans to hold a rally were put on hold due to rains but the presidents later headed to lay the foundation stone for the new headquarters for the secretariat headquarters at Arusha. A new anthem and flag were to be unveiled at the rally.

The events at the Arusha International Conference Centre mean that if the process goes smoothly, travelling from Nairobi to anywhere in the region will be simplified greatly, with the need to have a visa removed.

“We are welcoming a new East Africa of common interests and aspirations. The experiences of the last 10 years have shown us that the borders separating us are superficial. It is now upon East Africans to accelerate the pace as the vision of the full integration is now within reach,” said Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame.

He cited the joint military exercises conducted recently, one of which was dubbed Operation Mlima Kilimanjaro (Operation Mount Kilimanjaro) as one of the ways through which full integration of the region could be attained.

The protocol also enables the free movement of labour, services, capital, goods, people as well the right of establishment, right of residence and the removal of internal taxes charged on goods and services entering from a foreign country.

The right of establishment means an East African can set up a business in any member state without being subjected to the prohibitive taxes currently charged while the right of residence means East Africans can live anywhere in the region.

Negotiations for the protocol started in April 2008.

East African Community Affairs minister Amason Kingi described the signing of the protocol as a ‘great achievement,’ adding that the process was tedious and agonising.

He also welcomed Mr Museveni’s remarks on the oil.

“That’s a good way of seeing things. If heads of state begin to see things that way, it percolates to the people,” said Mr Kingi.

Rains, however, marred plans to have the signing ceremony at the Sheikh Abeid Karume stadium, which had been decked out in the multi-coloured flag of the East African Community.

Rwanda’s EAC minister Monique Mukaruliza said the ratification process would take a shorter time than in other states as the country was eager to reap the benefits of integration.

“There is a lot of commitment and sensitisation of people so there is a lot of public and political goodwill. In some countries, the process is too long but we are optimistic it will happen in good time,” said Ms Mukaruliza, who is also the chairman of the council of ministers.

President Kagame said when it eventually does, countries will have to bear losses of revenue as they forego taxes that used to be collected at border points.

EAC Deputy Secretary General in charge of Infrastructure and Planning Alloys Mutabingwa expressed optimism that the integration would work to the benefit of all.

“We have put in place the necessary laws and policies to effectively govern trade. The mere fact that establishing the community was a second attempt was not an easy task,” said Mr Mutabingwa.

“We are celebrating for a reason. In the eyes of a third party, it might seem like a small event but the struggle is known to those who have been here all along,” said Mr Mutabingwa on the sidelines of the summit meeting.

He said the current pace in negotiations for a Monetary Union was impressive given the history of similar unions, such as that of the European Union.

“The monetary union of the EU took more than 20 years to negotiate. We have set three years as our target and that tells you how determined we are for the success of this community,” said the Deputy Secretary General in charge of Infrastructure and Planning.

He said the secretariat would however need to have its capacity boosted, which will be addressed with the construction of the permanent headquarters of the secretariat.

“Pitfalls and misgivings will always be there but it is important to have the determination we have and that’s why you see no state can back off from the EAC,” he added.

The ceremony was delayed for two hours as the heads of states thrashed out the final issues in a meeting with EAC secretary general Juma Mwapachu.