Employers’ body wants new EAC chief to push for free movement of workers

MARC NKWAME in Arusha

AS the new Secretary General for the East African Community is set to report at the Secretariat this month, the East African Employers’ Organization already has some tasks ready for him.

“We want the new EAC Secretary General, Mr Liberat Mfumukeko, to push the five governments of the member states in fast-tracking free movement of workers, persons and labour,” stated the chairperson of the East African Employers’ Organization (EAEO), Ms Rosemary Ssenabulya, who is also the Executive Director of Uganda Employers’ Association.

Ms Ssenabulya was delivering a joint statement from heads of employers’ associations from Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi who gathered here under their EAEO umbrella to discuss the implementation of the East African Community’s Common Market Protocol, launched back in July 2010 but until now, many figure that the CMP remains a far-fetched theory.

Free movement of people, capital and labour were among the things stipulated in the East African Common Market Protocol. However the EAC stated earlier that, free movement of people will only be viable once each member state issued machine-readable Identity Cards.

“We are however happy that, Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda have waivered work permit fees in their respective borders, which by itself is great achievement of the East African Community under the outgoing Secretary General, Dr Richard Sezibera,” added the Executive Director of the Association of Tanzania Employees (ATE), Dr Aggrey Mlimuka, the Secretary General of EAEO.

They were of view that, it is high time Tanzania and Burundi also scrapped off fees from work permits, as well as ensuring that the documents are processed and issued much faster; “it should take a maximum of 30 days, not more,” they said in a statement.

The regional employers also took time to appreciate efforts of the five Presidents from Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi who during their recent Heads of State Summit, launched the new digital, East African Passport of international status.

EAEO also lauded the heads of state for including South Sudan in the East African Community membership boosting the area size with an addition of 620,000 square kilometres of real estate, and adding a population of 12.3 million more people to the already existed 150 million people.

The former general manager of the Burundi Investment Agency (API), Mr Mfumukeko, who was named the new EAC Secretary General will be starting his term in office on the 26th of April 2016, taking over from the outgoing Secretary General, Dr Richard Sezibera from Rwanda.

Dr Sezibera had previously also taken over from Ambassador Juma Mwapachu, the former EAC-SG from Tanzania in 2011.

Before Mwapachu, the East African Community Secretary General post was held by Dr Nuwe Amanya Mushega from Uganda who had on the other hand taken over from the pioneering Secretary General, Ambassador Francis Muthaura from Kenya.