EA passport to enable travel around the globe

The East African passport is to be upgraded to international standards and will allow citizens to travel around the world.

The new EAC passport complies with the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) document 9303 standards. Personal details of the applicant will now be legible through a computer from the “machine readable zone.”

The holder’s fingerprints, signature and photograph will be acquired digitally and stored in a database. The old model of the passport introduced nearly a decade ago by Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya has the holder’s data type written or hand written on it. It was meant to ease border crossing.

But the document has not been as popular as the traditional passports issued by the Immigration departments in the respective states. It ended up being used mainly by ordinary people such as traders and students travelling across the region, with government officials and business people shunning it.

Juma Mwapachu, the East African Community secretary general said though the traditional passports had been accepted internally, they were not used internationally.

“This is why we want to upgrade the EA passports so it can allow electronic screening,” Mr Mwapachu said.

When they were first issued, the EA passports were valid only in EAC member states but were to be upgraded into international passports starting this year. They would eventually replace the national passports.

However, this proposal is unlikely to materialise in the near future as a lot of groundwork has to be done, including phasing out the national passports of individual states and printing new passports with security marks.

Unlike the EA passports which one has to pay $10 to acquire and is valid five years, national passports of the three partner states are valid for 10 years.

Meanwhile, the issuance of the old passport has been suspended indefinitely to allow for the upgrading work to be completed.

Joint Tourism Bill passed by East African Parliament

By Geoffrey Baluku

The East African Legislative Assembly has passed the Tourism and Wildlife Management Bill paving way for an establishment of a Joint Tourism Board for the community.

This private member’s bill presented by MP Safina Kwekwe (Kenya) during the third meeting of the third session of the second East African Legislative is also aimed at creating an East African Tourism and Wildlife Commission that would coordinate the management of Tourism and Wildlife amongst the partner states.

In an interview with Trek East Africa, Kwekwe said, “The bill is about enabling an environment where marketing and promotion of tourism activities can be done jointly by all partner states. It also aims at setting standards for the tourism industry in the region by enhancing capacity building,” she added.

The Commission will promote cultural tourism, wildlife management, guarantee Intellectual property rights protection and coordinate the marketing and promotion of tourism in East Africa as a single tourism destination.

Wild animals wander across the East African borders, there for it is imperative that the community manages wildlife together.

Kate Kamba (Tanzania) said the region was endowed with enormous natural resources, whose management is burdened by bureaucracy among the member countries.

Hon. George Francis Nangale (Tanzania) on his part said that the passing of the bill is yet another milestone to EALA in its efforts to coordinate East African Partner States towards the management of the tourism industry in the region.

Kwekwe, the legislator from Kenya added, that "For East Africa to be a single tourism destination there will be need for harmonizing tourism policies and having the same incentives for tourists across the region".

She says the Bill will bring an end to contradictions in Tourism policies within member states.

UGANDA TOURISM NOT READY FOR EAST AFRICAN COMMON MARKET

By Baluku Geoffrey

Kampala, Uganda

Uganda by common consent of travelers continues to be one of the most beautiful countries in the world. The country not only has a great diversity and profusion of wildlife species but has also had 23 years of dramatic tourism growth. It is not only home to the highest number of mountain gorillas but has also been voted the number one birding destination in Africa.

The tourism sector is however faced with a number of challenges ranging from high cost of finance and constrained access to credit to inadequate opportunities to support technological transfer and low bargaining and lobbying capacity. This is yet to be compounded with a new challenge of the planned common market for the five East African countries.

Tourism in Uganda is known to be built on the natural and cultural resources which are usually the few assets owned by the poor. With the integration of East Africa and planned common market, the poor especially those in tourism related enterprises may end up being pushed out of business. The Ugandan market will for instance be flooded with Kenya and Tanzanian products such as crafts which will in way over shadow our own.

There is an Asian saying that goes, “Tourism is like a fire, you can cook your food with it or it can burn your house down”. It is clear that Uganda has not yet reached the level of Kenya and Tanzania.

Considering the limited facilities characterized by monopolies in Ugandan National parks, opening up the tourism sector to the East African common market may worsen the already fragile industry. Assuming many companies with a strong financial base such as Somak entered the Ugandan market, they would eventually control the entire tour operation business which would make conflict inevitable.

Government should handle the planned process of a common market in phases. This can be done in consultation with the tourism industry players. What is happening at the moment is that industry players have been left at the periphery of the whole negotiation process.

Irrespective of the capitalistic ideas, there is need for an element of “protectionism” for the Ugandan industry players. There is also need for standardization of tourism products and the fast implementation of the Tourism Act prior to opening up to the East African Common market.

Locals need to be empowered so that they are able to compete with counter parts in Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi. If this is not done, then conflict will always arise.