Free labour movement in EAC still a hot potato

Arusha. Nearly seven years after the coming into force of the East African Community (EAC) Common Market Protocol, the issue of free movement of labour is still contentious.

Concerted advocacy by lobby groups such as the East African Employers Organisation (EAEO), the East African Trade Unions Confederation (EATUC) and others do not appear to have yielded much results.

However, Tanzania, which has been viewed as being largely against the free movement of workers in its attempt to protect its national labour force, has reduced its residence permit fees by 50 per cent.

For Ms Rosemary Ssenabulya, EAEO chairperson, this was “a great achievement” in the EAC integration process considering that it was the most contentious issues the organisation has been advocating for in the last two years.

It was in 2015 when the employers’ body presented a joint petition with EATUC to the East African Legislative Assembly (Eala) on removing barriers to free movement of workers.

“However, we still need to do more lobbying in this area until the fees are harmonised to zero the way other partner states of Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda have done,” she said during an annual general meeting of EAEO held in Arusha last week.

Towards the end of last year, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta asked Tanzania and Burundi to waive work permit charges in the spirit of EAC of allowing free movement of people and goods.

He said the dream of a borderless East Africa would be realised if all partner states honoured an EAC Heads of State summit deal that sanctioned free movement of people, goods, services as well as capital.

“My government provides free work permits to all East Africans and we urge other partner states to do the same,” said President Kenyatta in a speech read on his behalf by Labour Services and EAC Affairs Cabinet secretary Phyllis Kandie at the official opening ceremony of the East Africa Business and Entrepreneurship Conference and Exhibition.

Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda have since waived the work permits but Tanzania and Burundi are yet to ratify the deal.

The deal also allows research, law, architectural and real estate firms from sister countries to offer cross-border services.

The move also saw single visas for foreign tourists introduced with hotels, tours and travel agencies now allowed to offer cross border services.

Ms Ssenabulya told delegates to the East African Employers Organisation from the five EAC partner states and Zanzibar that the exercise (free movement of workers across the region) cannot succeed without support from the national employers’ organisations.

Continue lobbying

“Our challenge for the next year remains to continue lobbying and advocating for conducive business environment in the region,” she said, adding that the organisation would continue to follow up the outcome of that study with the EAC secretariat for its implementation.

Dr Aggrey Mlimuka, the secretary general, admitted that EAEO was concerned with the issues of employment and industrial relations.

The minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office responsible for Labour, Employment and Persons with Disabilities (PWDs), Ms Jenista Mhagama, did not distance herself from the debate on free labour movement in the region.

She said what the EAC governments had consistently sought from the employers are practical and innovative proposals that will make businesses thrive in the entire region.

And when governments implement such proposals, the employers are expected to create decent employment and pay taxes.

“It is on this premise that the EAC partner states are committed to the free movement of labour across the region,” she said, adding that governments in EAC have put in place various reforms to support the free movement of labour across the bloc, including in areas of skills development and industrial relations development.

As far as Tanzania is concerned, the government is currently reviewing the National Employment Policy (NEP) of 2008, which intends, among other things, to deal mainly with skills mismatch “which will make our people especially youths more competitive and employable”.

“I, therefore, ask EAEO and the affiliate national employers organisations to encourage their members to help partner states in addressing the challenges of unemployment, informality and low productivity,” she said.

Serious about the issue

The minister confidently talked on the way Tanzania was serious about the issue in contrast to a barrage of criticisms from other partner states in the Community that it was against the idea.

“Governments across EAC are looking up to you (employers) to propose what partner states should do, what the workers should do and what you the employers will do to ensure that we have adequate, relevant and competitive skills in our region,” she pointed out.

Cross border trade in professional services generated a heated debate during a recent session of Eala in Kampala with the MPs insisting there were still hurdles hindering its smooth implementation as required under the Common Market Protocol.

While some regional legislators said not all professionals have been covered by the Protocol, others maintained that EAC partner states were yet to harmonize their laws in line with adoption of common approaches on the matter.

“The schedules of the Common Market in their current format are also not open for all professionals but certain sectors,” said Mr AbuBakar Ogle from Kenya when the House discussed the draft EAC Cross Border Trade in Professional Services Bill, 2016 introduced by Fred Mukassa Mbidde from Uganda.

The lawmaker from Kenya underscored the need for the House to be duly informed on the professional services which have been accepted by all the partner states and those which are still under consideration.

According to the mover of the bill, the proposed legislation intends to see to it that all professionals are allowed to crisscross the region as they render their services in line with the Common Market Protocol which came into force in July 2010.

But Mr Ogle said in reality each of the five EAC member countries (South Sudan is yet to be fully integrated) had its regulatory framework governing its labour market as well as the professional standards it has set which is different from other fellow countries in the bloc.

Mr Abdullah Mwinyi (Tanzania) said the cross border professional services was still shrouded in controversy because it is anchored in various schedules in the Treaty for the establishment of EAC and different clauses of the Common Market Protocol.

Early last year, the EAC secretariat was urged by EAEO to put pressure on Tanzania and Burundi to remove work permits fees for EA citizens working in their respective countries so as to facilitate free movement of labour within the EAC.