VZCZCXRO7140
RR RUEHJO
DE RUEHDR #0286 1221710
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 021710Z MAY 09ZDF
FM AMEMBASSY DAR ES SALAAM
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8475
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE
RUEHNR/AMEMBASSY NAIROBI 1256
RUEHKM/AMEMBASSY KAMPALA 3404
RUEHLGB/AMEMBASSY KIGALI 1329
RUEHJB/AMEMBASSY BUJUMBURA 2877
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS DAR ES SALAAM 000286 
 
SIPDIS 
 
AF/E FOR JLIDDLE, INR FOR FEHRENREICH, AF/EPS 
STATE PASS USAID, USTR 
COMMERCE FOR BERKUL 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: ECON PGOV PREL TZ BY KE RW UG
SUBJECT: EAST AFRICAN COMMON MARKET: GRADUALISM IN ACTION 
 
¶1. The five East African Community (EAC) Heads of State, at a summit 
meeting April 29 in Arusha, announced a delay in the planned signing 
of the long-negotiated Common Market Protocol until their next 
summit in November 2009.  The leaders' agreement on the final 
outstanding issues of the protocol came at the expense of three 
areas of integration resisted firmly by Tanzania.  In effect, 
Tanzania's neighbors' citizens will be denied ownership of Tanzanian 
land, the right to permanent residence after five years residence, 
and entry to Tanzania without a passport.  The presidents agreed 
that individual countries within the EAC could sign bilateral 
agreements on the use of national IDs as travel documents. 
 
¶2. Final negotiations among the Heads of State took three hours 
longer than scheduled, leaving a large collection of ministers, 
ambassadors, and other dignitaries waiting in the halls outside. 
When the summit's formal session finally opened, Rwandan President 
Kagame announced that he would deliver a single statement, his four 
colleagues having set aside their scheduled speeches.  The 
communique (faxed to AF/EX) was greeted with muted applause.  The 
atmosphere after the session ended was notable for its lack of 
enthusiasm, although several of the EAC ambassadors expressed relief 
that their leaders had concluded the agreement.  The Speaker of the 
East African Legislative Assembly, Abidrahin Abdi, expressed 
surprise that Tanzania had stood fast on all three issues, not even 
giving ground on passport-free travel in the region. 
 
ANDRE