NAIROBI, KENYA – President Uhuru Kenyatta last week told regional legislators the East African integration message was not getting across fast enough and asked for more momentum from all concerned. 
Quat “I wish to make it clear that we who are convinced of the imperative of integration must communicate it better to our people. Too often, the integration of East Africa is taken to be merely a political matter – a job for politicians, not ordinary people. True, leaders must lead.  But we have failed to spark the imaginations of East Africans when it comes to integration,” he said last week while addressing the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) in Nairobi.
He asked on the Assembly to consolidate its work on the integration process.  President Kenyatta further said the citizens of the region were yearning to freely move, work and enjoy the tangible benefits of integration. The President was addressing a Special Sitting of the 2nd Meeting of the 4thSession of the 3rd Assembly.
Keanyatta reiterated his commitment and that of his government to the integration process. “I will begin by repeating my Government’s complete commitment to East African integration. I know that the future of each of us in the region is bound up with the fate of all the rest.  Leaders must create the laws, the institutions, and the framework that will help us face that future together.
Kenya will play its part in that great task,” he said.
According to a press release, the President further urged stakeholders in the integration dispensation to go the extra mile and create awareness to the citizens of the region. He remarked that citizens of the region needed to be fully aware of the integration process. He said this was a role to be undertaken by both politicians and the ordinary people as well.
He said the Summit of EAC Heads of State was committed to ensuring the region’s infrastructure is improved for the betterment of their lives. “Some of you will recall that several of my brothers came to the signing and witnessing of agreements for the Standard Gauge Railway, some time ago. 
“Others – perhaps more, given that it was earlier this month – will recall that my brother President Jakaya Kikwete of United Republic of Tanzania visited Kenya to commission the Taveta-Arusha road,” he said.
“These projects are representative of the hard work that has gone into knitting the nations of the community together by road, rail and air” he added. The President lauded the Assembly for its enhanced performance and challenged them to go the extra mile in realizing its mandate.
“A key issue if I may speak directly to the Assembly, Mr. Speaker – is on the performance.  Your mandate ends soon. In the last few months, under the wise leadership of Speaker Kidega, you have done much: new Bills, reports, and resolutions have flowed at a steady pace.  But if I may say so myself, we would all like to see you leave a legacy: a set of measures that will be remembered as long as this Community lasts”, the President said.  
On sustainability matters, the President was emphatic that direct funding of the Assembly would strengthen the capacity for EALA to deliver its mandate. “Direct funding would strengthen the capacity of the community to deliver its mandate.  It would also hasten the day of complete integration.
Now, there remains the matter of sustainability.  It has been proposed that partner states of the community show their commitment to your goals by funding you directly,”  Kenyatta said. It has my complete support, and I will be happy to consult with you to see it introduced quickly and effectively” The President added.
The President also gave a nod to the request by the EALA Speaker to change the mode of Assent of Bills from the rotational mode to be a function on the sidelines of the Summit of EAC Heads of States meeting in order to enhance efficiency.
The Head of State further lauded EAC Secretary General, Amb Dr Richard Sezibera for the role played in effective leadership of the Assembly. In his remarks, the Speaker of the EALA,  Daniel Kidega noted that East Africans were interested in seeing more tangible benefits of integration. 
 The Speaker called on the Partner States to ensure its full implementation of the Customs Union and the Common Market Protocols stating that bureaucrats in governments were causing unnecessary red tape in the processes.
 He said,  “Whereas there is political goodwill and commitment to strengthen integration, citizens in the region continue to demand to see the tangible benefits.   Somewhere along the way, there is always some disconnect of some form.  As politicians, we sometimes see the technocrats in Government as the persons hindering progress by instigating red tape and unnecessary bureaucracies.”
He called on government officials to follow procedures in a manner that facilitates rather than encumbers integration. The Speaker called on the Summit of EAC Heads of State to intervene to ensuring the Institutional Review of the EAC is finalized.  He regretted that the Institutional Review process was an expensive affair to taxpayers and time consuming.
“This is none other than the Institutional Review which has been on the cards for the last six years and has cost tax payers – an estimated yet astronomical figure of $2 million! The process has been through a full round in circles much to the detriment of the EAC. On the one side the Secretariat and other Organs remain under-capacitated and under-funded. On the other side, the EAC is unable to realise its full potential,” the Speaker said.
Source: East African Business Week

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