Magufuli, Kenyatta stand by petty traders

Arusha. Officials manning the Tanzania-Kenya border posts have been told not to frustrate small scale traders, especially women.

Namanga has been infamous for constant fracas between officials on both sides of the border and hawkers.

But yesterday President John Pombe Magufuli and his Kenyan counterpart Uhuru Kenyatta used the official opening of the One Stop Border Post (OSBP) as an opportunity to tell immigration and revenue services officials from both countries to facilitate, not frustrate small traders. The unified border post in which officials of both countries work under one roof cost $10 million (Sh22 billion) to build.

The facility, one of the 15 to be built in the East African Community member countries’ borders, has already reduced the time taken to undertake customs processes from one hour to 15 minutes.

The facility has been constructed with the financial and technical support from the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica).

“Governments are here to facilitate trade and not to frustrate it,” President Magufuli noted during the well-attended event which was broadcast live by various TV stations in the two countries, including TBC 1 and KBC.

President Kenyatta echoed President Magufuli, saying some border officials were to blame for the hurdles often encountered by traders and other business people at Namanga.

“We must make it easy for them to do business. They are the mainstay of the economy of East Africa,” he said at the colourful ceremony held on the Tanzanian side of the border.

The Kenyan leader, on his part, said corrupt and inept border officials have no room in frustrating the movement of people and goods under the newly inaugurated OSBP.

However, he advised the business people operating within the region to abide by the law for the governments to facilitate and protect them.

Mr Kenyatta did not mention anything on the persisting trade wars between his country and Tanzania and instead pledged to improve trade relations.

“We are together,” he said, stressing the need for the two states and other members of the East African Community (EAC) to build a strong common market.

He added that EAC must strive hard in order to attract investments from abroad and make the region more competitive globally.

Dr Magufuli said Kenya was the third top investor in Tanzania after the United Kingdom and India.

He added that improved border structures like the jointly operated border post unveiled yesterday at Namanga would improve the two strongest economies in the bloc.

The Tanzanian leader noted that border hurdles, for which the EAC bloc is notorious for, have increased the cost of doing business by about 75 per cent.