Take Stock of the Milestones Achieved in The EAC Integration Process and Tackle Shared Challenges- Kadaga.
1DPM/Minister for East African Community Affairs Uganda, Rt.Hon Rebecca Alitwala Kadaga (MP)
By Bishop Samuel
Despite the colonial boundaries that divide us, the culture, language, and other aspects of life curt across, and endure, that’s why the essence of the East African Community is to promote regional cooperation/integration and strategically remove barriers that hinder integration. The EAC Common Market Protocol is one of the finest examples of the milestone in the EAC integration process.
Rt. Hon Rebecca Kadaga said at the high-level meeting of Ateker leaders and communities on peaceful co-existence and regional co-existence which she officiated on in Moroto district at Strikers hotel. The 1DPM/Minister for EAC Uganda was also pleased to inform the delegates of the successful and immediate positive impact in the region of the 2023 peace caravan from Lodwar to Namanga in the Republic of Kenya that was in search for peaceful co-existence among the Ateker and other border communities in the Tri-junction of Kenya, Uganda, and South Sudan under the auspices of the EAC. Rt. Hon Rebecca Kadaga (MP) who brooks no dissent further said that the government of Uganda in the last 10 years has allocated enormous resources in terms of money, time, and people for the gradual transformation of Karamoja. Kadaga recalled that in the Karamoja region, there were no roads, there was no water and electricity was just but a dream and there was no peace due to gun violence, lawlessness and cattle rustling. But because of government efforts to restore peace in the region, all these problems have gradually reduced, at least in the last decade.
Rt.Hon Rebecca Kadaga (3rd Left) in a group photograph with the participants
Earlier on peace cravan came up with resolutions of the which are extremely important. some of those resolutions were implemented or are being implemented by the Government of the Republic of Uganda. For example;
Resolution No.
- The governments of Kenya, South Sudan, and Uganda provide the requisite resources to expedite the reaffirmation and demarcation of borders.
The government of Uganda has continued to provide funds for the re-affirmation of borders and officials have been actively involved in the boundary re-affirmation meetings between Uganda and Kenya.
- The three governments work on the development of infrastructure including the development of road networks, one-stop border posts, hospitals, schools, and markets, and support cross-border livestock trade;
The Government of Uganda has so far done the following:
- The Suam one-stop border post is almost complete on the Ugandan side.
- The 73km tarmac road from Kapchorwa to Suam has been completed, among others.
In September, 2024, Rt. Hon Rebecca Kadaga in her capacity as Minister for EAC Uganda led a delegation of Ministers, and technical officers from the Ministry of EAC Uganda and other government agencies to Kenya and together with the Minister of EAC, Kenya, the two Partner States negotiated and Agreed on an MOU on the cross-border Transformation Agenda for Uganda (Karamoja and Sebei) and Kenya (Turkana and West Pokot) and a Resource Sharing Agreement for the Communities of Karamoja and Sebei and Turkana and West Pokot. These documents will signed during the Summit of the Two Heads of State that will take place in Moroto, very soon.
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