{UAH} The Observer - Kidega: I won't take Zziwa's path
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The Observer - Kidega: I won't take Zziwa's path
Friday, 16 January 2015 07:17
The new EALA Speaker, Daniel Fred Kidega
About two years ago the president wanted you out of the EALA contest in favour of Hon Omara Atubo who he believed had a better chance of becoming EALA speaker. Are you vindicated now that you are the speaker?
You see the president is the chairman of my party. When he brought that issue up, he was right but my standing was not against the president's advice. So, when his view got reviewed and I was voted, he accepted me as a member of EALA.
If the president had not wanted me, he would have made his position very clear position to me. But that discussion was not a policy debate; it was an in-house talk, it is history now.
How do you feel about this new task?
I feel a strong sense of responsibility because every day that passes by, I am trying to put the tasks into perspective. There is a huge responsibility ahead of us. First there is the legislative responsibility; there are many pending laws which are supposed to have been passed. Secondly, there is the representative challenge.
That is our role as representatives of the people of East Africa to do oversight, to make sure that the integration is on course, to make sure that countries comply with the commitments they have made and to make sure that resources for integration are utilised optimally. The last one is how do we position the assembly as the driver of the integration process? That is a challenge ahead for us as a team. We lost a lot of time during the fracas [impeachment].
Will you complete that work in the short time left?
It is possible. We just need to increase our efficiency.
But how do you plan to do that when some members look at you as someone who is rejoicing out of their sorrow?
The fact that I have come at a time when there is confusion, it means that I have to do certain things, among them, I have to forge unity among members, to repair the image of this assembly amongst the public and, the third one is, to do the work as expected.
You are on record for not supporting Hon Zziwa and siding with Hon Dorah Byamukama. Do you think she will trust you as someone working for unity?
It is true that I was a very firm supporter of Hon Byamukama (in the first election) but when Hon Zziwa took the day, we aligned with her. We worked with her normally until problems emerged, and by the way the problem was independent of the election politics. Therefore, I do not think there will be much of a problem in uniting the factions.
And if you followed the impeachment process, it was two votes against and one abstention, against the majority. So, dealing with the other minority is not difficult and in fact some of them have already started to congratulate me, which is a very good sign...They are willing to work with the rest of the members and even Zziwa herself, I know she will come back to the House and do her role as EALA MP.
But what exactly led to Zziwa's downfall?
The allegations that were made against Hon Zziwa were 15, they were investigated and the investigating committee recommended her impeachment. The background is public information...I do not think it is important to delve into it. We need to discuss the way forward from the point of reconciliation and the work ahead.
What do you intend to do to avoid trouble?
One critical fact is that I am very different from Zziwa. I know the problems that surrounded her and I know what led to her downfall. So, I will not repeat those mistakes.
Which mistakes and how do you plan to avoid them?
I do not want to get there. Just know that I have something to learn from.
But, didn't the removal of Zziwa and the fracas as you call it taint Uganda's image?
Our tenure is still on, Hon Zziwa may be out but I am in. I have the responsibility to make things better. I think the dent is reparable and a better picture can be projected.
But what does Uganda's EALA team stand for...
Maybe this is the time to clarify on a few things. The team is a very strong one. Most of the members have previously served in the assembly and Uganda's Parliament. So, it appreciates Uganda's agenda and its agenda cannot be different from Uganda's agenda. You know Uganda is at the heart of pushing for this integration and so the team stands for the integration.
But what have you done to push that agenda? What is reported about the team is that so and so is fighting for this one's man or woman?
It is very unfortunate that it is the trivial issues that come out prominent yet there are a lot of good things that the assembly has done. We have passed many legislations; e.g, in the last assembly we passed over 25 laws for the integration process, we undertook several outreach programmes in the name of oversight to make sure that the integration process is on course.
The fights between female MPs, all those things happen in all partner states and when two or more people meet, there is always room to disagree, which is healthy, but the most important thing is how you handle the disagreement. So, Ugandans should know that their MPs have done a great job. Go and look at how many private member's bills Ugandans have moved. For instance, Dora has moved many private bills that are laws today.
But how does an ordinary Ugandan benefit from EALA?
Okay. Let me use one legislation to explain how a common person benefits. We have the Customs Union Protocol which is the agreement of partner states to make sure that the customs union is there. Customs union is where goods can move across EAC members at a zero custom duty.
For instance, when there are goods that are to move from Kenya to Uganda, the importer has to pay certain custom duties at the border point but when the importer is to sell those goods to the final buyer, he/she factors that duty into the commodity price. So, with the customs union, that good reaches Kampala without that levy and therefore the ultimate cost of that good is cheaper. But to make that happen, the assembly passed what they call the EAC Custom Management Act that details how that is to be realised.
But when you talk of integration, that seems to be happening more at the policy level than in practice...
People must come to terms that integration is a complex issue. EAC is not the only integration happening in the world. If you look at the EU integration, it took over 30 years. We are not yet 20 years but you will realise that we have done some good work.
We have a partially-functional customs union, we have a common market protocol duly signed and ratified by partner states, we have got a monetary union protocol already signed, which is undergoing the process of ratification... We have several agreements signed amongst partner states. I can give you an example, today a Ugandan can move to Rwanda using only an identity card.
When a tourist moves into Kenya you will move with one tourism visa throughout the partner states. I think wananchi need to be sensitised on these issues. Besides, integration has stages and for every stage we move to, the benefits keep piling.
Sceptics often point out that we do not even have a common language...
Varying in linguistics does not stop the integration although if we have a common language it makes the integration move faster and cheaper. But, if you go to the EU, there are many different cultures yet their integration is progressive...So in the absence of a common language, there must be convergence of those languages in terms of being easy to be interpreted and availability of literature on them.
But, for EAC, Kiswahili would be the right language...I am happy to note that Uganda's EAC Affairs ministry has set up an institute to teach Kiswahili to Ugandans. I have been informed that they are starting classes in Kampala where there will be three stages i.e beginners, intermediary and advanced. So, what we must do is to encourage Ugandans to learn the language and make the integration easy.
At least in my discussion with Hon Shem Bageine, the programme has started in Nakawa and we have classes running already.
In 2013 you complained about the coalition of the willing, are you still opposed to it?
My view remains the same and principally we must move as a team. But the EAC Treaty gives the operational principles, which among them is the variable geometry; once the partner states agree on a matter, its implementation varies, so, under that principle, three states can agree to move and that is the case which happened on the tourist visa, Tanzania delayed but it joined later.
How do you rate the coalition of the willing?
It is going on well. It must also be said that alongside the integration of five, bilateral agreements continue to exist. Countries can continue to have their engagements, for instance Kenya and Rwanda have waived the requirement of work permits amongst their citizens which is not the case with Uganda, Tanzania and Burundi. This will motivate other countries to speed up the integration.
How do you rate the integration itself?
The protocols are being signed, which is a good political indicator of the commitment of our leaders. What remains is implementation. We are grappling with implementation of the customs union. You know sovereignty sharing is a complex matter but we are moving well.
Where are we now?
We have just concluded the protocol on monetary union. The achievement is big. On customs union, the partner states just need to appoint the EA Customs Authority that will oversee the process of implementing the customs authority but the customs union is a function.
When is the single currency coming?
The roadmap is in the protocol. As of now, it is not in five or ten years. I don't know how many countries have ratified it but what I can say is that the central banks are holding negotiations and harmonisation is on.
What of the political federation, any timeframe?
What you have to know is that at every stage of integration, there is ceding of political sovereignty but the ultimate union will come when the protocol is done. The debate on the constitution is on table and that means that we are making positive steps towards it.
I can't guarantee the time but all we are doing is a build-up to it...how long the process will take, I will not commit; it will depend on the partner states' negotiations. We should cut our coats to our size; we need to avoid timeframes.
Tanzania was opposed to the issue of land being regulated at EAC level...
Every partner state has a right to bring its views on the table like Tanzania did. But the question of land has been resolved and it will be left to municipal regulation. If you go to Tanzania to acquire land, you must comply with its law and it is the case for other partner states.
As we move towards political federation, do you think about the variance in our political culture?
The political union will not take place in a vacuum. It will happen when there is harmonisation of systems and policies. But I will quote President Museveni when he was in Kenya being interviewed, he said there is nothing cast in stone in Uganda if there is a view of East Africans that all countries must have term limits, Uganda will comply, but Uganda can also decide to convince other East African states to remove term limits.
The major point is that there must be harmonisation for political integration to take place. And this will also involve the discussion of the military like some people have suggested. You know, contemporary definition of democracy excludes the participation of the military; so, the military must also be discussed.
This is your last term and technically you will be ineligible to go back to EALA, will you support the proposed view of amending the law to lift term limits?
I do not believe in amending the law to change what is in place. After serving, I will come back to Uganda and say thank you.
What about other proposed amendments like the procedure of voting EALA MPs...Its proponents claim the current procedure favours political failures.
I want to dispel the view that representatives are political failures, the history of the world shows people who have lost elections but later turned out to be great leaders. So, losing elections is normal.
Besides, the law shows that we are elected through electoral colleges that derive their power from the people...what I commend as we progress is we must go adult suffrage. Besides, the slots are few considering the population size of the community. Even the functioning of the assembly is hampered because of the small number.
What next after serving as speaker?
What I will do next is not my preoccupation. My preoccupation is to do a very good job as speaker; after that, it will be my party to deploy me.
skakaire@observer.ug
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