INTERVIEW: Protocols not an end but means to integration, Rugwabiza says Made up of five nations; Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda, the East African Community set out on a regional integration initiative to jointly develop aspects like infrastructure, science and technology, education as well as harmonize business modalities. The different ongoing regional integration initiatives have so far had benefits such as easing business procedures, easing logistics of people and services, among other aspects. Valentine Rugwabiza, the minister for East African Community affairs, last week spoke to The New Times’ Collins Mwai about the progress achieved and lessons learnt in the integration process. Excerpts;- In the EAC region, there seems to be more activity on the Northern Corridor than there is on the central corridor, are all partners committed? The EAC treaty allows for asymmetric implementation meaning that while all partner states are bound by the commitments made, the EAC recognses that all partner states do not have the capacity or readiness to implement them. Therefore, EAC made provision for different geometry and asymmetry in the implementation process. What is happening in the northern corridor is as a result of that clause. All the five partner states enter in an agreement which is usually reflected in protocols that are ratified by heads of state. Rwanda is equally bound by those protocols. The challenge in EAC is not so much about instruments, it is more about implementation. We need to make sure we fast track the implementation. In little more than a year, through the acceleration of the EAC integration process in the Northern Corridor has been and acted as a locomotive to fast tracking and acceleration progress in the Central Corridor. newtimes.co.rw/section/article/2014-09-15/180934/
Posted on: Mon, 15 Sep 2014 12:52:55 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015