I think it was eight years before Rwanda (together with Burundi) joined the East African Community in 2009, I was still editor at The Monitor, in Kampala, and we sat down in Kigali for an interview.

I asked about the troubles in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where Rwanda and Uganda were still embroiled in the murky conflict; corruption; post-genocide reconstruction, and other grim things that afflict daily political life in Africa.

We then went on to sunnier and more hopeful subjects, including whether Rwanda planned to join the EAC, and what gains it expected.

It was mostly the usual fare: wider markets, cheaper prices in the long-term, speedier transportation of goods in and out for landlocked countries, and so forth.

He then paused and reflected for a few seconds and said; “Actually all these protocols and other things are not necessary, there is just one thing we need to do and we will have a perfect common in East Africa – get rid of customs taxes.”

In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, and the snarl of cargo trucks that happened at East Africa’s borders, one of the lessons that should be taken away is that EAC needs to scrap these tariffs on goods transported across border lines, because they are a menace in times of crisis. There are alternatives.

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