EAC integration still on course, assures President Kenyatta

Nairobi – President Uhuru Kenyatta has dismissed as unwarranted concerns that the East African Community could be headed for a collapse following the coming together of Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya and South Sudan in infrastructure development.The President said contrary to the rumours propagated by detractors of the regional bloc’s unity, all the five East African Community member states are committed to integration.“We are focused in our objective of uniting the region and making it prosperous. In fact, we are looking forward to our brothers and sisters from South Sudan joining us soon to make the regional bloc stronger.” President Kenyatta explained that the fast-tracking of the Northern Corridor infrastructure projects by Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda emerged out of the need to resolve the problem of transportation of cargo from Mombasa to Kampala and Kigali.“Following concerns by our neighbours, I decided to initiate measures that have succeeded in reducing the time taken to move goods from Mombasa to Kigali from 22 to eight days,” the President said.The President said the government has also removed all the roadblocks that were previously delaying movement of cargo along the Northern Corridor. He disclosed that plans were underway to make the movement of cargo across the neighbouring countries even easier and faster.He said the coming together of Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and South Sudan was aimed at addressing the four countries’ unique needs but was not in any way meant to undermine the EAC integration process.He disclosed that during the 3rd Integration Infrastructure Projects Summit in Kigali, the four leaders agreed to implement a number of initiatives that would improve the lives of people.One of them is allowing Kenya and Rwanda residents to use their identity cards as valid travel documents, while Ugandans, who have no IDs, would use their voters’ card to grant them entry into any of the three countries by January 1 next year. “This is to ensure that our people can move and do business freely across the region. The artificial boundaries placed by colonialist should not be allowed, in any way, to curtail our quest to improve our region,” President Kenyatta said.He said the summit also resolved that there should be a single visa for the EAC where one could get it in any of the member states regardless of whether or not they were citizens of those countries.“If you are a Kenyan in Washington and the Uganda or Rwanda embassy is the nearest one to you, go to that embassy and you will get a visa,” President Kenyatta explained.On the standard gauge railway line, the President said the region was moving fast and by 2018 the railway line will have reached Kigali in Rwanda and Juba in South Sudan.He emphasised that the completion of the standard gauge railway, the construction of which will commence by the end of November, will reduce the cost of transportation and doing business in the region.

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EAC integration still on course, assures President Kenyatta