In Summary
Ms Zziwa said the debate on when
the region would have a single currency would start when the Monetary
Union Protocol is ratified.
The move to have a common currency for East Africa will be implemented over a period of 10 years, officials have said.
The chairperson of the East
African Council of Ministers, Mr Shem Bageine and regional Speaker
Margaret Zziwa made the remarks on Monday in Kampala.
Speaking to journalists at
Parliament, the regional legislators said debating and realising a
situation of a single currency in the region at a go was difficult
because all member states operate at different levels.
“Countries have different GDPs,
different exchange rates. All those have to be harmonised and agreed on
so that we set up institutions like the East African Bank that will
help us avoid pitfalls like what is happening in the European Union,” Mr
Bageine, who is also Uganda’s junior minister for East Africa, said.
He said the Monetary Union Protocol could be signed on November 30.
Mr Bageine, however, said the
protocol had already been discussed over seven times by representatives
of community member states and reported their deliberations to their
respective ministers of finance.
“Seventy-seven clauses of the
protocol have been discussed and many clauses have been agreed upon and
we expect a report to come to the Council of Ministers later this year
so that we can see whether it can be ready by November this year for
ratification by the member Heads of State,” he said.
Ms Zziwa said the debate on
when the region would have a single currency would start when the
Monetary Union Protocol is ratified.
“The process to have one currency will be implemented in 10 years but all will start when the protocol is signed,” she said.
The monetary union is the third step towards the realisation of a fully-fledged East African Union.
So far, the five member states
have ratified the Customs Union Protocol, the Common Market Protocol,
and are remaining with a political federation.
The countries in the bloc are Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi.
Mr Bageine said leaders EAC member countries already have a model they were considering for the political federation.
Although the Customs Union and
the Common Market union were ratified, some countries have failed to
comply with the provisions by hindering free movement of east Africans
in the region.
“We agreed that let our people
be able to move freely in their region,” said Ms Zziwa. “But we realise
that passports are expensive for some people. So, we are focusing so
much on identity cards by member states so that one can be identified as
an East African but from a particular country.”
The EALA members are in
Uganda for the sixth meeting of the first session of the third East
African Legislative Assembly which will take place at Parliament
from May 26 to June 6.
A special sitting will be
addressed by President Museveni on June 5 but other meetings of the
House will consider the budget speech that shall be delivered by the
chair of the council of ministers on May 30.
The MPs will also debate the
EAC Vehicle Load Control Bill 2012 and the EAC appropriation Bill. They
will also debate and adopt various committee reports on oversight of EAC
activities, motions and resolutions.
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