{{Tour operators from East Africa have accused Tanzania of mistreating them especially by not allowing non Tanzanian registered Vans carrying tourists from crossing into the vast coastal country.}}
However, the EAC Common Market Protocol that is coming into effect guarantees free movement of people and services.
Tanzania has since 1985 barred Kenyan-registered tourist vans from crossing into Tanzanian territory. The two countries signed an agreement that requires either country to off-load tourists crossing borders.
Despite the previous bilateral agreements between member states, the forthcoming EAC Common Market Protocol is expected to overide such agreements.
On condition of anonymity, an EAC secretariat source was quoted by local media, “Even with the regional integration spirit, it will take sometime for the EAC protocols to override bilateral agreements between the partner states or involving them with other countries.”
Last week Kenya government said it would lodge a formal complaint with the EAC Secretariat against Tanzania whose officials, it accuses of barring tour operators from their country from entering its territory with tourists.
The Kenyan cabinet secretary for EAC Affairs, Tourism and Commerce, Ms Phllyis Kandie, was quoted as saying; “I will raise this thorny issue at the regional level because the EAC Common Market protocol guarantees free movement of people, goods, capital and services.”
A Tanzania Association of Tour Operators official also leaned on the bilateral agreement under which vans carrying tourists would only stop at the borders.
Leave a Reply