SPEECH BY HIS EXCELLENCY HON. UHURU KENYATTA, C.G.H.

, PRESIDENT AND COMMANDER IN CHIEF OF THE DEFENCE FORCES OF THE REPUBLIC OF KENYA OCCASION: VENUE: DATE: EAST AFRICAN LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY 5 TH MEETING 2ND SESSION OF THE 3RD ASSEMBLY ARUSHA, TANZANIA 25TH MARCH, 20 !

Madam Speaker, Chairperson of the EAC Council, Honourable Ministers, Honourable EALA Members, Members of the Press, Fellow East Africans, Ladies and Gentlemen, be!in b" applaudin! the East African Le!islati#e Assembl" for upholdin! its tradition of in#itin! the chair of the Summit to the state of the EAC Address$ %he occasion affords the chair a sin!ular opportunit" to inform the citi&ens of EAC ' as well as our friends, and our partners ' of pro!ress in the (ourne" to full inte!ration$ am !ratified to ha#e been asked to !i#e a broad outline of our principal priorities, while focusin! on the part that the Assembl", in collaboration with the Council and the Secretariat, must pla" if our destination is to be reached$ For m" part, must admit that it is a pleasure to speak both to the Assembl", and to all East Africans where#er the" ma" be$ )hen last spoke to "ou, durin! the Assembl" sittin! in *airobi in *o#ember +,-., pled!ed that m" countr" would arran!e a tour of /en"a b" Members of the Assembl"$ trust "ou found it useful in informin! "our le!islati#e and representati#e responsibilities$ M" Cabinet Secretar" sa"s it was a #er" successful tour$ )e hope to arran!e further tours to other parts of /en"a in the comin! months$ Madam Speaker, Africa still slumbers$ t is time to wake up0 )e ha#e it within our power to assault po#ert", if onl" we can muster the self1belief$ n the last fi#e "ears, our re!ion has seen disco#eries of new mineral and fossil deposits$ 2et we ha#e hardl" scratched the surface of our wealth creation, while the number of our poor remains unacceptabl" hi!h$ t falls to us to

mana!e our natural bount"3 we must learn from best practices pioneered elsewhere, adaptin! them to our circumstances$ 4ur people demand no less$ Madam Speaker, wish to challen!e the Council to seriousl" consider the complete harmoni&ation of communit" laws and re!ulations on e5ploitation of natural resources$ %he EAC has made !reat strides o#er the past thirteen "ears, especiall" since the comin! into effect of the Customs 6nion in +,,7$ %rade within the communit" has surpassed e5pectations$ )e ha#e seen a deepenin! of cooperation across a number of sectors8 in education, in our infrastructure, and in the defence of the freedoms and ri!hts pro#ided for under the Common Market Protocol$ Madam Speaker, n the last "ear, we ha#e si!nificantl" reduced police roadblocks alon! the main EAC transport corridors$ 9ut police roadblocks, irksome as the" are, do not e5haust our non1tariff barriers$ %here remain barriers to trade, mo#ement of capital, labour and people that still frustrate the fulfillment of our potential, so abl" reco!ni&ed b" the framers of the Customs 6nion and the Common Market Protocols$ :i!ilance ' in the remo#al of the bureaucratic red tape that chokes our trade, and our mo#ement of !oods, ser#ices and people ' must be the watchword$ Last "ear, +,-., marked another milestone in the Communit";s (ourne" to full inte!ration8 "ou will recall that we si!ned the Monetar" 6nion Protocol$ t is no mere milestone ' no mere re<uirement ticked on the EAC inte!ration checklist$ t was rather a critical sta!e ' a challen!in! one e#en ' but we will not tire in our efforts to brin! it completion$ 4ur resol#e is e5pressed in the theme of the Financial 2ear +,-=>+,-7 9ud!et, which !lories in the title Consolidatin! the EAC Common Market Protocol and Commencin! the mplementation of the Monetar" 6nion Protocol$ t is the dut" of this Assembl" therefore to de#ote itself to !uardin! the !ains we ha#e made$ Madam Speaker, %he Assembl" must also push for the prompt, effecti#e enactment of the pro#isions of the protocols$ t ma" be a clich?, but it is one worth repeatin!8 the Communit" will ne#er meet the aspirations of its "outh if our comparati#e ad#anta!e in !lobal trade remains our primar" commodit" production$ 4ur e5ports too often lea#e our shores with little #alue added3 our economies are inade<uatel" di#erse3 we remain too loosel" linked to make the most of our di#erse stren!ths$

)e ha#e no choice in the matter3 we must industriali&e to build the wealth that will brin! di!nified work to our people, sustain our !rowth and abolish po#ert"$ %he Customs 6nion and Common Market framework that we ha#e put in place is but the first step to reali&in! that ob(ecti#e$ %his Assembl" and the Council are char!ed with con#ertin! the dream into concrete realit" this decade$

Madam Speaker, %o secure our economic, social and political cooperation, the Communit" is on course to cement our political unit" throu!h the establishment of an EAC Political Federation$ Alread", we are seriousl" considerin! the suitabilit" of #arious model structures a!ainst the political realities in our re!ion$ %hou!h East African Federation is the ultimate !oal of the Communit" inte!ration, must emphasi&e that political federation is a process, not an e#ent$ 4ur standin! cooperation in our common life ' in economic affairs3 in !ood !o#ernance3 in securit"3 and in education, and man" others ' constitutes the foundation necessar" for the federation we desire$ know that a Committee of this Assembl" has alread" e5pressed its #iews on the @e#ised Araft Model Structure, @oad Map and Action Plan for East African Political Federation that was de#eloped b" e5perts for consultations at the partner1states le#el$ After se#eral past studies of the alternati#es a#ailable to us, am confident that the Summit, after thinkin! carefull" about our responses to the plans proposed, will issue clear directions for the road ahead$ must ur!e the Assembl" to widen its consultations, and infuse its spirit of solidarit" into our citi&ens, our "outh, our reli!ious leaders, and all our people$ Let our inte!ration be centred in the hopes of our people, as we promised it would be$ Madame Speaker, t is m" dut" to mention some challen!es to our re!ion$ Few fill me with as much dis!ust as the recent upsur!e of illicit trade in wildlife products, especiall" i#or" and rhino horn$ %his, in spite of our firm new anti1poachin! measures$ Sadl", East Africa has been identified as a ma(or source re!ion and a fa#ourite transit route for this callous commerce$ n the period between Banuar" and 4ctober +,-. alone, o#er ten tones of i#or" were intercepted at the port of Mombasa$ %he latest nterpol report, for instance, estimates a CDE increase in +,-. o#er the total tonna!e sei&ed in +,-+$ %hese de#elopments represent a deadl"

threat not onl" to the li#elihoods of communities that benefit directl" and indirectl" from wildlife, but also to our tourist industr" which in some of our partner states contributes more than -,E of our Gross Aomestic Product FGAPG$ E#en more worr"in! is the reasonable concern that the proceeds of this illicit trade ma" be feedin! terrorist acti#ities$ t is time for our securit" a!encies and re!ional wildlife mana!ement authorities to ti!hten their cooperation, and stem the menace$ t will not ha#e escaped an" of us that terrorism remains a serious securit" threat to the Communit"$ /eepin! the communit" safe will remain a ke" priorit"$ An" approach to the problem that concentrates on keepin! an indi#idual countr" safe offers onl" the illusion of securit"$ %he transnational nature of terrorism #i#idl" illustrates that m" nei!hbour;s peace is m" concern as much as his$ %he communit" is admirabl" placed to contribute to the (oint search for peace and political stabilit" in our nei!hbourhood, especiall" in the @epublic of Somalia, South Sudan and in the Great Lakes that are currentl" e5periencin! serious conflicts$ n deepenin! our cooperation in defence and securit", we ha#e si!ned two protocols on Cooperation in Aefence and Peace and Securit", which we e5pect to come into force this "ear$ )e are also establishin! a Panel of Eminent Persons, which, to!ether with EAC Earl" )arnin! Mechanism, will complement our capacit" to respond firml" and <uickl" to potential conflicts in our re!ion$ hope these instruments will be finali&ed before end of this "ear$ am e<uall" !lad that the Assembl" initiated a 9ill on Aisaster @isk @eduction and Mana!ement, to miti!ate the fre<uent loss of li#es and propert" throu!h natural and man1made disasters that ha#e become a fre<uent occurrence in the Communit"$ t would be to our ad#anta!e if that bill were passed before the end of the "ear$

Madam Speaker, As the poet reminds us, our communit" is not an island, entire unto itself$ Attention to the communit";s economic en!a!ement with third parties is not idle$ )hile we #i!orousl" pursue inte!ration, we remain e<uall" aware of the !reat !ains to be found in deeper Africa1wide market inte!ration3 in infrastructure de#elopment to enhance connecti#it"3 and in industrial de#elopment to unfetter our continent;s producti#it"$ t is for this reason that the Communit" attaches !reat importance to the on!oin! %ripartite *e!otiation for the Common Market between the East and

Southern Africa FC4MESAG, East African Communit" FEACG and the Southern Africa Ae#elopment Communit" FSAACG$ %he proposed !rand Free %rade Area comprises +C Countries, with a combined population of nearl" C,, million people ' accountin! for nearl" 7HE of Africa;s population ' and a total GAP of about 4ne trillion dollars$ 4nce complete, it will be the en!ine of the continent;s economic and political empowerment$ am satisfied with the pace of the ne!otiations$ look forward, as am sure we all do, to the conclusion of these ne!otiations before the last <uarter of +,-=$ Similarl", we ha#e been deep in ne!otiations with the European 6nion for o#er si5 "ears on an Economic Partnership A!reement$ %hese ne!otiations, we must hope, will soon come to a mutuall" satisfactor" a!reement$ %he theme wish to sound, in re#iewin! our efforts here, is confidence$ %he time when we were wei!hed down b" pessimism is behind us3 in en!a!in! our e5ternal partners, we must look to the near future when the Communit" will be a #ibrant and stron! pla"er in !lobal trade$ Madam Speaker, %he %reat" for the Establishment of East African Communit" has ser#ed us well for more than a decade$ 9ut like our national constitutions, it is a li#in! document, to be re#iewed from time to time, in tandem with the communit";s pro!ress$ t is m" hope that the present e5amination of the %reat" will be hastened, to ali!n it to the realities of our present e5perience, and our hopes for the future$ Likewise, would ur!e "ou to wei!h an" le!islation for the e5pansion and creation of new institutions a!ainst the Communit";s financial capacit"$ %he lion;s share of our resources must !o to our de#elopment priorities, not our recurrent administrati#e costs$ Prudence will prefer the stren!thenin! and impro#ement of e5istin! partner states; institutions to the inau!uration of new ones$ %hat same prudence also warns us a!ainst the !reat temptation to pe! our Communit";s performance on the number of Aecisions and Airecti#es made, and laws passed b" the Assembl"$ %he Aecisions, Airecti#es and le!islations will not ser#e the communit";s interest if we can neither enforce nor e#aluate them$ )e must mean what we sa"$ %his concern prompted the Summit decision at the /ampala meetin! in +,-. directin! an audit of all directi#es and decisions pendin! implementation$ t is m" hope that at the end of m" tenure as chair this "ear, can report that we ha#e reduced the number of pendin! Airecti#es, Aecisions and Assembl" le!islations to near &ero$ Madam Speaker,

Allow me to reiterate the Summit;s stron! commitment to the unit" of East Africa$ )e ha#e learnt harsh lessons from the past missteps of our predecessor$ 4ur !reat stren!th ' perhaps our onl" real stren!th ' is our unit" and solidarit"$ Finall", Madam Speaker, let me pa" tremendous tribute to the EAC Secretariat, Secretar"1General Ambassador @ichard Se&ibera and his team for the sterlin! (ob the" are doin!$ %his team is at the heart of our success as a communit"$ encoura!e them to do e#en more as we stri#e to !row our communit" to reali&e inte!ration$ am aware of the challen!es the Secretariat staff team faces$ As we mo#e into the future, our pled!e is to work with other partner states to impro#e the Secretariat;s financial standin!$ am also supporti#e of institutional reforms necessar" to deli#er prudent and e5pert dischar!e of their duties$ now wish "ou a fruitful "ear in buildin! East African Communit"$ Lon! li#e EAC0 God 9less "ou All$