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KAMPALA, March 30 -- Negotiators from the five East African Community (EAC) member states are meeting here to finalize a draft protocol aimed at establishing the EAC Common Market by January 2010, an official said here on Monday. "These have been very intensive series of negotiations, we have concluded more than 90 percent and believe Kampala will deal with the most critical issues," said Julius Onen, deputy secretary general of the EAC in charge of projects and programs. Negotiators from Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania are now finalizing with the outstanding issues in the ninth round of talks, including trading of services, free movement of people and acquisition of land. According to documents prepared for the five-day negotiations, issues of different land ownership system and the common ID card adoption remain to be solved among member states. Land is owned by the government in Tanzania while it could be property of individuals in Uganda. Four countries opt for national ID cards as travel documents, unlike Tanzania, which prefers national or the East African passport. Onen said an EAC summit set for April 29 is to endorse the final protocol which will then come into force on Jan. 1, 2010. The formation of a common market will pave way for a monetary union and finally a political federation. EAC has already adopted a customs union. |
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