She said time difference between Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya, on one hand, and Burundi and Rwanda, on the other, was a barrier to business, especially at the border towns.
Arusha. A Burundi member to the East African Legislative Assembly (Eala) Ms Hafsa Mossi wants a harmonized time that would cover all the five member countries of the East African Community (EAC).
She said time difference between Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya, on one hand, and Burundi and Rwanda, on the other, was a barrier to business, especially at the border towns.
She cited transporters who had to wait at the border posts for opening time for business on the side of the destination country. The transporters are also subjected to a similar delays when they reach a border of other states only to be told business had been closed.
“Time difference is a non-tariff barrier which has not got the attention of our policy makers”, she told The Citizen in Kigali, Rwanda last week where Eala has been holding a plenary session which was concluded on Thursday.
For Tanzania these include Kagera and Kigoma regions and to a lesser extent other regions in the western zone. In Uganda, the western region fall in the same longitude with the entire stretch of Rwanda and Burundi.
Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya use the East African Standard Time (EAST) which is three hours ahead of Greenwhich Mean Time (GMT+3) alongside with other African countries, mainly in the Horn of Africa and the Indian Ocean island states.
Burundi and Rwanda, on the other hand, are grouped in the Central African time alongside with countries in southern Africa, except Namibia and Angola. The other countries using the GMT+2 time zone are Central African Republic (CAR), Democratic Republic of Congo. Egypt and Libya.
A legislator from Kenya Ms Sarah T. Godana said adjusting time to enable the entire EAC bloc have one standard time would not be a big deal compared to harmonising the traffic system (as once suggested) from left-hand side driving to right hand side and vice ver.
A time zone is a region that observes uniform standard time for legal, commercial and social purposes. Time zones tend to follow the boundaries of countries and their sub-divisions because it is convenient for areas in close commercial and other communication to keep the same time.
