Editor,I wish to react to Arthur Asiimwe’s piece, which appeared in The New Times, March, 22 titled “Burundi – give Caesar what belongs to him.”All Rwandans, by just looking around, should be grateful and positive for what we have achieved today. We should now be working even better to improve on what we have.I am of the view that the EAC bloc shouldn’t rush into a monetary union with already institutionally weakened members. What Mr Asiimwe described about Burundi is exactly what is happening in Greece (no one wants to pay taxes or work beyond 45-50 years, and when it was not sustainable anymore, their parliament blocked the reforms...until they were not even getting paid themselves).As we say in Kinyarwanda “umusore umuhana avayo”. The political class in Rwanda should go with the national reforms and ensure they deliver sustainable results. The other Partner States, too, need to undertake similar reforms, they need to focus on strengthening their economies for the benfit of their citizens and, ultimately, the region as a whole.Until then, it’s so difficult to build a stronger EAC based on weak institutions and unprogressive practices in some Partner States.Fairness of the tax regime is one of the issues that need to be addressed. Tax collection in Germany is up to 90 per cent with the new FATCA, and it is going even to be greater than that.WillVienna, Austria
