PARTNER STATES REVIEW IMPLEMENTATION OF EAC COMMON MARKET PROTOCOL

 

 The East African Community Partner States concluded Friday a five-day review of the implementation status of the EAC Common Market Protocol as at December 2012. The Protocol came into force in July 2010.

Addressing Partner States’ experts in Kampala, Uganda’s Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of East African Community Affairs Mrs. Edith Mwanje recalled the concerns expressed by both the Summit of the EAC Heads of State and the Council of Ministers on the slow pace of implementation of the Protocol and emphasized the need to reflect on “where we are, where we ought to be and what needs to be done to put implementation back on track”.

The Permanent Secretary underscored the importance of the Common Market to ordinary citizens who want to move, study, work, reside and generally do business within the true spirit of East African integration and its centrality in trade facilitation.

She urged the experts to provide proposals to unlock any impediments towards realizing the cherished goal and aspiration for a prosperous, competitive, secure and politically united East Africa.

The Permanent Secretary urged the experts to critically examine the role and functions of the National Implementation Committees and the reporting structures for the Protocol and examine the indicators and milestones for tracking the status of implementation as well as how best to deal with the commitments under the Protocol whose timelines for implementation may have been overtaken by events.

She stressed the need to examine the recurring problem of Non Tariff Barriers (NTBs) on the free movement of goods, and urged the experts to propose effective measures to ensure that what had been agreed upon at the regional level is not derailed.

The meeting reviewed the overall status of the implementation of the Protocol and noted that generally all the Partner States were still lagging behind in implementing the Protocol, albeit at different levels.

Some of the key challenges and observations made were in regard to the slow pace at which Partner States were harmonising their national laws to conform to the EAC Common Market Protocol. In regard to monitoring and evaluation framework, the Experts noted the lack of standardised reporting period; lack of a common understanding and interpretation of the indicators, including guidelines on data collection and the need to design a specific monitoring and evaluation tools for particular areas of the Common Market Protocol such as Free Movement of Services, Free Movement of Goods, Free Movement of Capital, and SQMT Act (Standardisation, Quality Assurance, Metrology & Testing); among others.

Limited funding at national and regional level is also an impediment to the implementation of the Protocol.

One of the major pending items is the need to resolve contentious issues of linking/delinking the schedules on free movement of workers and services. Some Partner States had not submitted to the Secretariat their comments on this issue hence delaying finalization of the negotiations of trade in services. There is also the need for Partner States to establish Statutory Regulatory Bodies to handle issues related to professional service areas.

The slow pace in the harmonization of social security legislations in the Partner States and the delay to finalise the actuarial study in line with the Council directive is also impacting the implementation of the Common Market Protocol.

The experts considered the Terms of Reference to guide Partner States when constituting the National Implementation Committees on Common Market Protocol and recommended the same to the Sectoral Council of Ministers Responsible for EAC Affairs and Planning for consideration.

The 15^th meeting of the Sectoral Council of Ministers responsible for EAC Affairs and Planning, among others; directed Partner States to establish National Implementation Committees (NIC) by 29 February 2012 composed of high level officials under the chairmanship of the Ministries responsible for EAC Affairs.

The Sectoral Council also directed the Secretariat to convene bi-annual meetings of Partner States experts to review the status of implementation of the Common Market Protocol, share best practices at the regional level, review the framework and the status of implementation, and propose policy interventions for its consideration.

 


HON KINANA LAUNCHES EAC ELECTION OBSERVER MISSION TO KENYA GENERAL ELECTIONS

The East African Legislative Assembly Speaker Emeritus, Hon. Abdulrahman Kinana today launched the EAC Election Observer Mission to the March 2013 General Elections in the Republic of Kenya at the Hilton Hotel in Nairobi, Kenya.

Addressing the media, Hon. Kinana said a credible electoral process was a critical lever in promoting political integration and strengthening democratic processes in the EAC regional integration agenda. The leader of EAC Observer Mission noted that observer missions can only accompany the process. 

“Kenyans will determine how to express their democratic rights under a new, vibrant political dispensation”, We look forward to elections that strengthen and advance the democratic culture in East Africa, and that contribute to the peace and security East Africans enjoy”, asserted Hon. Kinana.

At the media launch, the Secretary General of the East African Community Amb. Dr. Richard Sezibera called upon all Kenyan electorates to exercise their democratic right and civic duty and participate massively and peacefully in the March 4^th General Elections.

The Secretary General also called upon all stakeholders to ensure that the elections are concluded in a peaceful manner and wished all the candidates to accept the outcome of the elections in the interest of peace, brotherliness, national interest, regional integration, development and good neighbourliness in East Africa.

The Media Launch was attended by EAC Ambassadors/High Commissioners based in Nairobi namely Angelina Wapakhabulo (Uganda), Nibigira Ezekiel (Burundi), Batilda Burian (Tanzania), and Yamina Karatanyi (Rwanda).

EACJ Concludes Longest Ever Session Since Inception

The East African Court of Justice Thursday ended its longest sessions ever, which began on 14 January and wounded up 14 February 2013. In its two Divisions (Appellate and First Instance), the Court entertained 30 matters in total, including; 22 References and Applications; four Taxation matters; three Rulings and one Judgment.
 

Among these, the Court dismissed an Application filed by the EAC Secretary General, seeking permission to file his appeal out of time from the judgment the Court delivered on 30 June 2010 in favor of Hon. Sitenda Sebalu. According to the EACJ Rules of Procedure the notice of appeal against a judgment must be lodged within 30 days after the judgment has been made.

Hon. Sebalu had sought a declaration against the EAC that the delay to vest the East African Court of Justice with the extended jurisdiction is in contravention of the Treaty. The Court in its ruling today, stated that the Applicant (EAC Secretary General) did not give sufficient reasons for his delay to justify the exercise of the Court’s discretion to extend time for filing his appeal. 

The First Instance Division also allowed the United Republic of Tanzania to file a response to a matter concerning the elections of Tanzanian representatives to the East African Legislative Assembly. 

 The case was brought to the Court by Mr. Anthony Calist Komu, a member of the Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (CHADEMA) political party, who unsuccessfully contested for EALA membership and proceeded to file a case challenging the process of the said elections on grounds that it violated the provision of Article 50 of the Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community.

In addition, the Court delivered a judgment in a case regarding allegations that the protocols for the EAC Customs Union and Common Market are inconsistent with the EAC Treaty, because they purport to oust the (original) jurisdiction of the East African Court of Justice in matters relating to the East African Community regional integration processes and granting it to the Partner States, national courts, administrative and legislative authorities. 

The Court did not find in favor of the positions taken by either party in the case. However it concluded that the dispute settlement mechanisms created under the protocols do not exclude, oust or infringe upon its interpretative jurisdiction. And that both protocols are not in contravention or in contradiction of the Treaty.

The increased workload of cases being handled by the Court indicates improved building of trust and confidence in the Court.

The increase in the number of cases demands full time presence of the judges especially those of the First Instance Division to start with. In an attempt to address this challenge, the Court introduced a one-week Court session per month for each division but the results were not encouraging as the workload kept growing. 

It later introduced a two-week session per month but it also did not seem to address this challenge. The Court has now begun a one month session quarterly to dispose off a number of cases that have been pending.

The permanent residency of the President and Principal Judge who are now working on full-time basis has enabled the Court to work more efficiently.

The cooperation between EACJ and the national courts, has also greatly contributed to the efficiency of the Court and the Court commends the Chief Justices who willingly accepted and allowed the Judges to come to Arusha for such a long time, despite the busy schedules in their respective Courts.  

On 12 February 2013, EACJ also started discussing the modalities of how to deal with its first arbitration case ever. This is a labor dispute filed by a former employee of the East African Law Society for allegedly terminating her work contract and she is seeking the Court to arbitrate on the matter for her compensation.

The Registrar of the EACJ Prof. Dr. John Eudes ruhangisa says this is a cost effective way to resolve disputes.

The East African Court of Justice (EACJ or ‘the Court’), is one of the organs of the East African Community established under Article 9 of the Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community. Established in November 2001, the Court’s major responsibility is to ensure the adherence to law in the interpretation and application of and compliance with the EAC Treaty.

Arusha is the temporary seat of the Court until the Summit determines its permanent seat. The High Courts of the Partner States serve as sub-registries.