Cabinet recently approved the Civil Aviation Act and Civil Aviation Security, a move that paves way to harmonization of the Rwanda Civil Aviation’s jurisdiction with that of the East African Community EAC).

According to the Director General of Rwanda Civil Aviation Authority, Richard Masozera the law awwaits being forwarded to parliament where it should be approved by both chambers.
"I can not speculate when it will be in place because it’s not yet in the parliament and not sure how long it’s going to be there,” said Masozera on phone.

A consultant was hired from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) to work on the laws that will put RCAA on international standards. The consultant was given templates of all the EAC partner states and the law will be a hybrid of EAC partner states.

After the harmonisation of EAC civil aviation regulations, (EAC) partner states will ratify Security Oversight Agency (CASSOA) protocol.

The three founder partner states have adopted the protocol in their national legislative and waiting to ratify it as a block.
The EAC CASSOA is a specialized agency of the community responsible for ensuring the development of safe and secure civil aviation system in the region.

The main objectives of the agency are to ensure coordinated development of an effective and sustainable civil aviation safety and security oversight infrastructure in the community.
After the signing the protocol, it is expected that partner states will be able to share available resources in an equitable manner, especially the human resource.

Other responsibilities of CASSOA include harmonising operating regulations to ensure that they meet the international standards and recommended practices.

Others include the developing of standardised procedures for licensing, approving, certificating and supervising civil aviation activities.

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