Saturday, April 30, 2014
By YVONE KAWIRA
President Uhuru Kenyatta is received by President Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania on arrival for the 11th Extra Ordinary East African Community (EAC) Heads of State summit in Arusha, Tanzania. Looking on is President Pierre Nkurunzinza of Burundi. Photo/FILE
An extraordinary summit of East Africa Community Heads of State will start Wednesday in Arusha, Tanzania.
The presidents of the EAC Partner States will converge in the one-day meeting to review the activities of the five-nation economic bloc.
Among the issues at the top of the agenda will be to review the progress achieved in the implementation of the Common Market, an initiative that was signed in November 2009.
The Common Market provides for the free movement of goods, persons, labour, services, and capital within the region.
It is the second point of the regional integration project after the Customs Union, which was signed in 2005.
The third phase is the Monetary Union, whose pact was signed in Kampala in November last year.
“The presidents will consider reports on the revised model structure, road map, and action plan for the East Africa political federation, which is the ultimate objective of the regional organisation,” read a statement from the community secretariat.
The applications of South Sudan and Somalia to join the organisation will also be reviewed.
The EAC Secretariat’s programmes, which are heavily financed by development partners, are also expected to draw the attention of the presidents and consider the way forward.
An alternative funding mechanism has been proposed by the EAC Secretariat through a one per cent tax collection on all imported goods.
The EAC budget is approximately Sh10.9 billion to Sh11.8 billion ($130-140 million), which is not enough to implement all the projects and programmes of the community.
According to a survey of the financial year 2011-2012 on the gross domestic product in imports, EAC collected Sh11.3 billion ($134 million) a year.