The new East African Community secretary general, Mr Liberat Mfumukeko, has assumed his duties with a promise to turn around the cash strapped regional body.
It is not a secret that the new executive comes at a time when the EAC secretariat is operating with a shoestring budget, 70 per cent of which is donor funded.
It means that, what the member countries raise a mere 30 per cent of a budget, and that isn’t good enough to keep the integration dream alive. It therefore goes without saying that if EAC continues to operate this way, there is no way the six countries will attain the intended unity any time soon.
Mr Mfumukeko, who had been an employee of the secretariat for before his elevation to the helm, has vowed he will work on this sorry state.
We hope the EAC states will take this as a wake-up call and find ways of raising funds with which to benefit their people.
The statement by the new boss in Arusha means EAC members should aim to make sure donor dependence in running their regional affairs is reduced to a minimum or scrapped altogether.
We believe this is possible. If individual countries device and implement strategies to reduce with donor dependence, why shouldn’t they do the same at the regional level?
What is needed is for the partners to the community to support the new boss who has shown he is determined to make EAC independent. If we want to make the EAC integration project a success, relying on donors isn’t the way to that end.
There is a need to start by ensuring each country pays its dues at the EAC.
Records show that most of them are lagging behind in settling their EAC membership fees. In no way will this tendency enable us to drive the integration vehicle successfully.
streamline land laws
The demolition of 400 houses in Kibamba on the outskirts of Dar es Salaam that started at the beginning of this week is a tip of the iceberg of the challenges of land ownership in the country.
The home owners are not mere encroachers, but people who spent their hard-earned money to put roofs over their heads after unknowingly buying plots from fraudsters. With no clear-cut system for verifying authentic and legal ownership of land and property, people have been swindled and many more will be taken for a ride.
People need to be enlightened on what to ask for in terms of legal requirements before buying land. The need to confirm actual ownership against proper documentation with relevant authorities should not be an option but a right. The country’s policies on land can and should be improved.
The Property and Business Formalisation Programme, better known as Mkurabita, was good start by the government as far as empowering and enlightening people on land ownership and rights are concerned.
With less than 20 villages in four districts having land registries, we shall be witnessing endless land conflicts for a long time unless more is done to accelerate the process.
Source: All Africa
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of TradeMark Africa.
