There is much to unite EAC beyond borders and history
Aerial view of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania’s capital city. PHOTO | FILE
What you need to know:
East Africans share common cultures, including a distrust for their respective governments.
A few days ago I had the good fortune of having a work assignment in Dar es Salaam. We deplaned from Kenya Airways, which had departed three minutes earlier than scheduled making for an impressive on time arrival – contrary to its much-maligned reputation.
Waiting for us just past the air bridge were three plastic-gloved women standing next to an Ebola screening poster. Lo and behold, they were not waving a magic temperature wand like their Kigali counterparts despite the Ebola visual aid reminders.
They were only interested in seeing our pale and well-worn yellow fever certificates. It was as if the certificates would magically illustrate whatever tortuous journey each passenger had endured in the last three months.
As we descended into the bowels of the immigration hall, we found two long wooden counters with little cubbyholes in which immigration forms sat askew. A sign clearly indicated: “Tanzanians and residents don’t need to fill out these forms”.
The rest of us non-entities blithely filled ours out and stood in line. Because Tanzania is a member of the Coalition of the Unwilling, there was no separate line for East African Community residents, but I’m tired of singing this song.
I frankly think that in the immigration hall at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport we should put a sign that says EAC and Comesa citizens EXCEPT Tanzanians. Oh I forget that Tanzania is not a member of Comesa.
Anyway, I got to a grim faced immigration official who didn’t even crack a smile at my killer of a charming grin.
“Vipi kaka?” I tried the local lingo.
He mumbled something in response and thrust the blue immigration form back at me, “Tia sahihi (append your signature)”. At least he was speaking Swahili to me.
As I exited the arrivals terminal I saw a brand spanking new building named VIP Terminal 2. Joshua, my taxi driver, said I should have used it since I had a diplomatic passport.
I looked at him confused. It turns out that he mistook my powder blue coloured East African passport for a diplomatic one. I quickly set his disabused notions right. But the surprises don’t end there.
Driving out of the airport, I saw a huge construction project in the airport vicinity. I asked Joshua what it was.
“Nkt!” He muttered.
“Tunajenga terminal 3 na barabara hatuna. Mwenye kuturoga akafa. Kama angekuwa hai tungeenda kumuomba msamaha. (We are building Terminal 3 yet we don’t have roads. Whoever bewitched us died. If he were alive we would have gone to beg him for forgiveness).”
I almost fell out of the taxi laughing. I loved Joshua’s righteous indignation as it made him a true East African citizen.
What I particularly found interesting was that the Tanzanian government, which ran the national carrier Air Tanzania aground, would have the temerity to build another terminal with no national carrier to provide the requisite passenger flows.
Anger at the misplaced priorities of our national governments can galvanise East African citizens into a Coalition of the Indignant.
We got on the highway headed to the Dar central business district. Within minutes Joshua quickly got off the road as a Nissan Pathfinder with the letters “MP” emblazoned on the sides and a loud siren whooshed by.
I was just about to get peeved that Tanzanian MPs drive cars with sirens, when I saw three four wheelers following in quick succession. Turns out that it was a military honcho who was being given way.
I exclaimed in utter Kenyan shock, why should we move off the road for a military honcho? Joshua’s response: “We have respect here for military folks, but if a citizen wants to get to airport fast he or she just needs to call the police and pay Tsh200,000 (Sh11,000) to get a police motorcycle escort. Pardon?
Joshua said he had done it several times when he had guests who were running late and needed to get to the Dar airport despite the legendary city traffic jams. There is a reason why we are the EAC that goes beyond common borders and common colonial histories.
Our cultures are not dissimilar and, sadly, white elephant infrastructure projects, pompous officials with a need to declare their nuisance and an inability to adequately prepare for medical crises like Ebola are par for the course amongst the EAC members.
But it bears noting that the rate of economic growth in this part of the world is exciting to external investors. A number of the people on the flight from Nairobi ended up staying at the same hotel as I.
The Dar Serena was full this particular week, with business people from various countries and a number of Kenyans closing deals in the retail and energy sectors. There were also a number of training activities at the hotel driven by Kenyan firms.
Much as Tanzanians are anecdotally wary of the Kenyan capitalist onslaught, it is apparent to the uneducated eye that removing trade and labour barriers is the last mile for an already burgeoning cross border relationship. After all, we are already joined at the hip in our mutual distrust of serikali.
