Residents of Rubavu District in Western Province have urged regional experts to prioritize free movement in the ongoing Rwanda consultations on the draft East African Community (EAC) Political Confederation Constitution. The call for free movement of people, goods, and services emerged as one of the recommendations during consultations held in Rubavu on Monday, June 22. The session brought together Western Province Governor Jean Bosco Ntibitura, district officials, representatives of the Joint Action Development Forum (JADF), civil society, academic institutions, and constitutional experts from EAC member states who were gathering views on the proposed confederation framework. ALSO READ: EAC begins Rwanda consultations on political confederation A confederation is a union of sovereign states that retain substantial autonomy, while a federation vests greater authority in a central government. The proposed EAC political conferedeation will be a transitional step toward a political federation. The consultations, which began in Kigali on June 15, will be conducted in other secondary cities, including Huye in Southern Province and Nyagatare in Eastern Province before concluding on June 27. The EAC experts are gathering views from a cross-section of citizens across the country. “The Confederation Constitution must prioritize the free movement of people, goods, and services among member states,” said Jean Bosco Tuyishime, Chairman of the Pan-African Movement in Rubavu District. He said that the successful should pave the way for enhanced regional trade and economic integration. According to Tuyishime, regional integration can only be achieved if member states remain united and avoid decisions like unilateral border closures. “How can one country wake up and close its border with a fellow member state, forgetting that we are more than friends and neighbors? We are brothers and sisters,” he added. He emphasised that cross-border cooperation is essential for sustainable development and aligns with the African Union’s free movement ambitions. Participants also raised concerns over inadequate road and railway connectivity among EAC member states, barriers to trade, persistent insecurity in parts of the region. Shakiru Muhamadi, Director at the University of Tourism, Technology and Business Studies (UTB), who participated as part of the academia, stressed the need for legal clarity within the proposed framework. “The confederal framework must provide clear regulations cross-border trade, regional investment, and the fundamental rights and freedoms of EAC citizens,” he said. “History shows that legal ambiguities in these areas often become sources of disputes between states. When states clash over trade regulations, it is ordinary citizens and businesses in border communities whose livelihoods, safety, and commerce are immediately disrupted.” The call for free movement was echoed by Benjamin Odoki, Chairperson of the EAC Constitutional Experts Committee and former Chief Justice of Uganda. “We want a borderless East African Community with free movement of people, goods, and services. That is what we are looking for,” Odoki said in a media interview. “We do not want barriers. We want people to move freely and trade freely,” he added, stressing that this is linked to the Common Market and the proposed single currency, which are also important pillars of regional integration. ALSO READ: EAC resumes Rwanda consultations on Political Confederation Constitution Meanwhile, Andrea Aguer Ariik Malueth, the Deputy Secretary General of the EAC responsible for Infrastructure, Productive, Social, and Political Sectors, commended Rwanda's active participation in EAC affairs, expressing gratitude for the strong turnout at the consultations held in Rubavu. “We are glad for the turn out here in Rwanda, both in Kigali and Rubavu,” he said. “This is an education on how Rwanda takes EAC matters and reflects the willingness of its citizens to participate in the constitution-making process.” Similar consultations have already been completed in Burundi, Uganda, and Kenya.
