Editor,

Reference is made to the article, "UN report exposes poverty among East Africans” (Sunday Times, July 27). Of course we are poor and I don’t see our regional leaders changing that anytime soon. Their joint integration projects will need to urgently deliver tangible benefits to the common man.

Unfortunately, member states are still bickering like in the 1960s and 70s when Idi Amin and Mwalimu Julius Nyerere couldn’t see eye to eye. As East Africans, we have failed to rise above our nationalities and pursue the true aspirations of integration.

We still feel safer within our impoverished national borders instead of embracing a free common market that brings true benefits for all.

If nothing changes, I’m afraid human development among East Africans will remain low forever.

Alice Kwezi, Rwanda

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A saying goes that truth is bitter! I am sorry to you who thought otherwise. However, let us wake up. We need to make up for the lost time during slave trade, colonialism and neo-colonialism; we should learn not to shift blame.

There is one way I trust: people-centred poverty reduction strategy where mass education, especially financial literacy, will accelerate development through financial inclusion. This goes beyond national frontiers.

JK, Rwanda