Today marks a major turning point in the history of the revived East African Community.
Therefore, the attention of the entire region will be focused on the EAC Secretariat at Arusha, where the Presidents of Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi will put their seal of approval on a vital stage in the development of the regional bloc, which is marking its 10th anniversary.
President Jakaya Kikwete will be hosting his counterparts, Mr Mwai Kibaki (Kenya), Mr Yoweri Museveni (Uganda), Mr Paul Kagame (Rwanda), and Mr Pierre Nkurunziza (Burundi), as the regional leaders usher in a new dawn for the people of East Africa by signing the Common Market Protocol.
This follows the impressive gains realised from the gradual implementation of the Customs Union, which fully comes into effect in January.
The Common Market protocol is yet another significant step in the ongoing efforts by the member countries to remove the trade barriers between them.
With this new development, we believe, there are immense opportunities for new investments to spur socio-economic growth and realise other benefits in the region.
But as nothing good comes without a price, the negotiations of this protocol have been long and sometimes acrimonious.
It has been like a tough long journey for each of the parties, who can now see the potential market more than 100 million people beginning to shape up. This is good news, indeed, for a region that desires to see its people freed from ignorance, disease and poverty.
However, the leaders know very well that without their unwavering commitment and political goodwill and the support of their people, it will not be possible to fully harness the benefits of both the Customs Union and the Common Market.
Many Challenges
In fact, though there is plenty to celebrate as the new EAC turns 10, there are still numerous challenges.
A lot more still needs to be done to pulverize the existing conservative government setups into coming up with systems that fully acknowledge and appreciate the importance of regional integration.
It's evident, for example, that the same mutual mistrust that played a role in the collapse in 1977, of the original EAC, still lingers on.
We must strive to do away with these negative factors that only stifle growth and enterprise and act as impediments to achieved the desired unity.
The protocol being signed today embodies the spirit to unify the EAC and open the borders for meaningful interaction.
However, a scrutiny of the document shows that we are not out of the woods yet. Some of the countries have ceded only a little ground, blunting the effort to remove the barriers that have hampered regional trade and integration.
As the common market is rolled out next year, national laws and institutions, some of which go against the regional goals that have been set, will still govern the member states.
Experts are, for instance, warning that reference to national laws on thorny issues such as movement of labour, services, right of establishment and residence and investment, are bound to create room for manipulation, imposition of unwarranted restrictions and artificial barriers.
The next six months are going to be critical as the member states hopefully realign their policies to reflect the spirit of the protocol or else the agreements will only remain on paper.
