Members of the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) have called upon EAC Partner States to kick-start the process of uniformly abolishing work and residence permit fees as well as in the facilitation of portability of social benefits.

This was on Wednesday at the ongoing EALA session in Arusha, Tanzania where the Assembly agreed to work jointly with regional advocacy bodies to engage in sensitisation and popularisation of the Common Market Protocol among other related issues.

Late yesterday, the Assembly debated and adopted the Report of the Committee on General Purpose on the petition to EALA regarding work/residence permits in the EAC for the citizens of the Partner States, according to a statement from the regional assembly.

The report presented by Dr Odette Nyiramilimo, the Chair of the Committee indicates that a number of areas of co-operation and implementation of the Common Market Protocol remain in the remit of individual Partner States and thus calls for advocacy to enable harmonisation at the regional level.

The committee further observed that the issue of portability of social benefits is key and undertook to continue working with the East African Trade Union Confederation (EATUC) and the East African Employers Association (EAEO), who are drafting a Bill on the same.

"The issue of portability of social benefits has already been discussed bilaterally among some Partner States. In addition, EALA will formalize its engagement with the East African Business Council and other private sector players in the region,” reads part of the statement.

During the subsequent debate, Martin Ngoga called for the harmonisation of the procedures of acquiring permits while Hon Susan Nakawuki said Partner States should not be seen to be introducing barriers that hamper the process of acquisition of the permits.

Dr James Ndahiro remarked that though the Common Market Protocol had many benefits, citizens of the region continue to face a myriad of challenges, saying that it was necessary for EAC Partner States to prioritise integration.

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