Residents of Northeastern Kenya are now calling for a borderless East Africa Community to promote trade in the region.
Speaking on Saturday during a public participation forum on the proposed political confederation of EAC held at a Garissa hotel, Hassan Noor, a resident of Garissa, asked the committee to prioritise a borderless region that would ensure goods and services move freely.
“I want a free region so that I can move freely in the region. We should promote resource sharing so that cases of conflicts are minimised in the region,” Noor said.
“There is huge potential in the region for trade to thrive if we come up with a borderless region. This will also see a strong regional economic block that does not depend on aid from the East or western countries,” he added.
Justice Benjamin Odoki, retired Chief Justice of Uganda, said the journey to strengthen the political authority is on course.
He is chairman of the committee of experts appointed at the EAC summit to draft the constitution for the proposed political confederation of EAC.
Odoki said that much has been covered in the quest to come up with a draft EAC constitution.
“We shall be visiting all the 47 counties collecting the people’s views that we shall use to draft the constitution,” he said.
The retired chief justice said that his team of experts will come up with a draft confederal constitution that will lead to a transition to a federation.
Fatuma Yusuf from Wajir urged the committee to ensure there is inclusivity in the regional governance system.
“I want sign language to be included among the recognised languages in the EAC so that people living with disabilities can feel being part of the EAC population,” Fatuma said.