Improved Transport since AEAC incorporation!

It is hardly believable that transporters do not face a lot of challenges. In most of the cases they delay on stations where they are supposed to take a short break, in case of corruption, unexpected costs and accidents. From the very outset, the government is supposed to hold different priorities concerning the socio-economic improvement leading to a brilliant development because of its actual or quasi monopolistic nature and this is where EAC is supposed to pursuit threats of commercial growth seen in cross-country transportation.

The delay itself can be caused by the time difference which is attributed to many factors including poor infrastructure, the existence of Non Tariff Barriers (NTBs) and poor conditions of the trucks on the road. One would say that the poor state of infrastructure along the corridors is the main reason for the slow speed of the cargo trucks that cover EAC region.

Who has the responsibilities of decreasing the impacts faced after the delay? Considering different difficulties found in roads by transporters, governments have resopnsibiltity to cover but with a support from transporters and investors as many follow-ups come as the result from this stoppage dicouraging businessmen.

Faceing the issue of corruption as crosscountry transporters don’t mean typical corruption as well. They have to be stopped by the police and tend to sacrifice themselves for their unruly licence. As We have more than 4 countries named to be EAC’s members, no body can detail a specific analogy about corruption, even if East Africa is took as the first community led by corruption fight today.

Among transporters, some of them complain on how they are still being stopped by police for a long time the main reason is not explained to them. For Yassin Abdi Hassan, the Tanzanian Transporter, roads improvement is obvious but there is a long journey to cover:
“Sometimes we are stopped by police and delay about 6 hours for no reason and let us go when they want. Indeed weighing machines like in Uganda mislead us; as we transport fuel you pass on the first one and it marks ok; the second it’s the same. But when you get to the third they tell you that you have exceeded!” he says.

Furthermore, a big number of transporters admit on taking a longtime to their places of intermission as they do at MAGERWA stations in Rwanda, in Congo or Uganda because of personal issues or accidents. But it’s also usually caused by disoreders coming from a buyers’ delay on getting clearance forms of their products.

Of course when we say that the support has to come up, we don’t mean that EAC governments do not have their efforts. They have to provide secured environment and often provide cross-border transport routes.
The EAC should therefore take steps to adopt the new policy on Regional Transport and take the necessary measures to introduce and approve such adaptations to the policy as deemed appropriate to make it EAC-specific, and support and publish the policy in a protocol format which should be binding on partner states. Partner states should equally internalize the policy on regional transport matters in their domestic transport policies.

What are the impacts of delaying to the EAC economy?

Every thing that has started also has to end up! Mme Souzan, one of MAGERWA caders, confirms that any delay is impactful to the econmy. “Suppose that transported goods are medicines. When that kind of delay occurs, patients will suffer because they will not get cured at time. Even engineers and builder who wait goods to come from Mombasa or Dalesalam and fail to get them on time will stop working”
A step forward is very remarkable! When we consider the transport before 2004 and today’s actual time, transporters spent days to weeks waiting hard clearance on borders. They should pass to every boarder when they have already cleared to it and drivers had to struggle for paying visa also they had to spend a lot in roads. 80% of cross country transporters spent more than a week to reach their destination which for sure killed business! In one week a businessman can make it possible to gain the profit of doubling his investment when he chose to do like 3 or 4 round-trips.

Today the implementation of One stop border posts, like it has been started at Kagitumba Border, decrease the time that drivers used to spend waiting to be checked twice. And then, the fact that jobs on EAC borders have a very useful return to travels as drivers do not have to wait so long as they were before.

This is the process that should be implemented as EAC governments are trying their best. “Checking papers is done to every boarder but drivers have the unique paper which is taken from their packing side. We use one boarder for stamp and signature and on the other customs it’s only verification!” says VUNABANDI Saidi, one of the Rwandan Drivers and a traveler through the East African region.
Why should the delay be reported?

As, in the aforementioned analysis, days of delay have decreased, we still need investors who can travel a lot in order to increase income! Time is money. Even if transporters no longer delay on borders and get any delay coming from personal problems of drivers, investors or police, the first opportunity vanish because the meaning of quick clearance on borders is challenged by non practical delay on stations and on roads.

The Senior Program Manager Of TradeMark East Africa Company, KALISA Jean Bosco, working in the Rwanda office, confirms that the Company is doing research about any problem encountered in travelling, and then develop advocacy strategies to help Rwandan private sector position itself better to take advantages of opportunities and mitigate against some of the risks of integration.

Delays or long stoppages often limit gain values that can be achieved in practical systems. Transport is taken as a predominant platform tool of communication that can enhance economy as both transport and communication which are central to the development of any society.