Swali langu: Je; Ni Ardhi yetu ndo chambo cha hawa jamaa kuitolea mimacho au? hata hili suala la kuwa na kitambulisho kimoja cha Africa Mashariki -Kiusalama hatujafika huko na haya mambo ya kutaka kupaste 'model' za European Community yanaweza kutufikisha kubaya. Mfano mzuri ni kifo cha EAC 1977 Baada ya kichaa kupata Rungu huko Uganda.
My Take:
There is no East Africa Community without Tanzania ( Bse, we are the one with all land and its natural resources...migrants are waiting for this move(ID and Lands issues to be ratified by us and that will be a suicidal move.
EAC adopts roadmap but fails to agree on land, residency and IDs
Presidents Yoweri Museveni, Mwai Kibaki and Jakaya Kikwete. The Heads of State Summit will be convened in Arusha on April 29, 2009 to discuss pending issues on integration. Photo/ANTHONY KAMAU
By JULIUS BARIGABA
The final round of negotiations on the Common Market Protocol have ended in Kampala without agreement over land rights, the use of national identity cards as travel documents within the region and the right to permanent residency sticking points on which Tanzania would not cede an inch to its partners in the regional bloc.
The East African Community Council of Ministers went over the draft Protocol for hours but as deliberations approached a close on April 9, no agreement was in sight over these outstanding issues.
The atmosphere in the meeting room became so heated that at one stage, the Council asked senior civil servants from the member states sitting in on the session to leave the room.
The EAC Deputy Secretary General in charge of Programmes and Projects, Julius Onen, told The EastAfrican that in the end, the Council agreed that these issues remain pending till the Heads of State Summit, which convenes in Arusha on April 29.
The ministers agreed that these three remain bracketed, he said. Tanzania says that it is not opposed to the use of IDs, but proposed that this should happen only in countries that are ready to use IDs.
And we accepted that on the principle of viable geometrythat those who want to move faster on some of these issues can do it. In the same way, access to land remains bracketed, as well as the details on residency.
Experts told The EastAfrican that what remains incomplete in the draft protocol is less than five per cent, but it is so critical that it cannot be shoved aside. The entire Protocol has 90 Articles, but only these three remain bracketed to be decided by the Summit.
Sources at the meeting said it was not possible for the Council on its own to succeed in bridging the gulf of differences, which is why it sought to defer the issues to the Heads of State Summit.
At the heart of the impasse is Tanzanias insistence that it cannot grant the right to access land to other East African citizens.
The country was also opposed to the use of national IDs as travel documents within the region and for foreigners to get permanent residence.
But according to Mr Onen, the region is agreed on the basic principle of residence, but Tanzania is opposed to certain aspects in the detail of the residence article and as they say, the devil is in the detail.
In his remarks at the opening of the Council of Ministers session, Mr Onen prayed that Council adopt the draft, lack of consent on these key issues notwithstanding. Avoiding direct reference, he said the draft is not perfect, but at least it is a good document.
The Multi-Sectoral Co-ordination Committee will be presenting for your consideration a draft Protocol on the Common Market for East Africans. It may not be a perfect protocol because there can never be a perfect agreement, protocol, treaty or even a constitution. The fundamental aspiration is to have a good protocol, said Mr Onen, who has for the past 12 months ploughed through volumes of material to come up with the contents of last weeks document.
The Multi-Sectoral Council comprises Ministers of EAC Affairs, Finance, Tourism and Trade, Internal Affairs, Gender, Labour and Social Development, Agriculture, Lands Education, Justice, Works and Transport, ICT, Office of the President and Pubic Service, from the five partners states the East African Community.
Throughout the negotiations that kicked off in April last year, negotiators from Tanzania at the High Level Task Force have remained opposed to sections of the protocol granting access to land for all East Africans, use of national IDs as travel documents and residency, making a case for consultations at ministerial level.
Source: The East African - EAC adopts roadmap but fails to agree on land, residency and IDs
My Take:
There is no East Africa Community without Tanzania ( Bse, we are the one with all land and its natural resources...migrants are waiting for this move(ID and Lands issues to be ratified by us and that will be a suicidal move.
EAC adopts roadmap but fails to agree on land, residency and IDs
By JULIUS BARIGABA
The final round of negotiations on the Common Market Protocol have ended in Kampala without agreement over land rights, the use of national identity cards as travel documents within the region and the right to permanent residency sticking points on which Tanzania would not cede an inch to its partners in the regional bloc.
The East African Community Council of Ministers went over the draft Protocol for hours but as deliberations approached a close on April 9, no agreement was in sight over these outstanding issues.
The atmosphere in the meeting room became so heated that at one stage, the Council asked senior civil servants from the member states sitting in on the session to leave the room.
The EAC Deputy Secretary General in charge of Programmes and Projects, Julius Onen, told The EastAfrican that in the end, the Council agreed that these issues remain pending till the Heads of State Summit, which convenes in Arusha on April 29.
The ministers agreed that these three remain bracketed, he said. Tanzania says that it is not opposed to the use of IDs, but proposed that this should happen only in countries that are ready to use IDs.
And we accepted that on the principle of viable geometrythat those who want to move faster on some of these issues can do it. In the same way, access to land remains bracketed, as well as the details on residency.
Experts told The EastAfrican that what remains incomplete in the draft protocol is less than five per cent, but it is so critical that it cannot be shoved aside. The entire Protocol has 90 Articles, but only these three remain bracketed to be decided by the Summit.
Sources at the meeting said it was not possible for the Council on its own to succeed in bridging the gulf of differences, which is why it sought to defer the issues to the Heads of State Summit.
At the heart of the impasse is Tanzanias insistence that it cannot grant the right to access land to other East African citizens.
The country was also opposed to the use of national IDs as travel documents within the region and for foreigners to get permanent residence.
But according to Mr Onen, the region is agreed on the basic principle of residence, but Tanzania is opposed to certain aspects in the detail of the residence article and as they say, the devil is in the detail.
In his remarks at the opening of the Council of Ministers session, Mr Onen prayed that Council adopt the draft, lack of consent on these key issues notwithstanding. Avoiding direct reference, he said the draft is not perfect, but at least it is a good document.
The Multi-Sectoral Co-ordination Committee will be presenting for your consideration a draft Protocol on the Common Market for East Africans. It may not be a perfect protocol because there can never be a perfect agreement, protocol, treaty or even a constitution. The fundamental aspiration is to have a good protocol, said Mr Onen, who has for the past 12 months ploughed through volumes of material to come up with the contents of last weeks document.
The Multi-Sectoral Council comprises Ministers of EAC Affairs, Finance, Tourism and Trade, Internal Affairs, Gender, Labour and Social Development, Agriculture, Lands Education, Justice, Works and Transport, ICT, Office of the President and Pubic Service, from the five partners states the East African Community.
Throughout the negotiations that kicked off in April last year, negotiators from Tanzania at the High Level Task Force have remained opposed to sections of the protocol granting access to land for all East Africans, use of national IDs as travel documents and residency, making a case for consultations at ministerial level.
Source: The East African - EAC adopts roadmap but fails to agree on land, residency and IDs
