VICE-President George Kunda has said there is need for the member states in the Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA) to address the issue of the free movement of persons if the objectives of the regional grouping are to be attained.
Speaking in Lusaka yesterday when he officiated at the fourth meeting of COMESA ministers responsible for immigration, the vice-president said while progress had been made in the movement of trade commodities, there is need to address the movement of persons.
“The people of our region or our human resource are one of our greatest assets or resource and if we are to fulfill our goal of attaining a complete free market for the COMESA region, we have to address this important aspect of our integration agenda,” he said.
Mr Kunda has since called on COMESA member states to agree on the measures, however modest, that the region needs to take to make progress in the area of the movement of persons.
He said COMESA already had legal instruments already in force to govern the issue of the movement of people.
“We already have legal instruments that are already in force and that govern our programe such as the protocol on the gradual relaxation and eventual elimination of Visas, but what is retarding our progress is lack of implementation.
“I am also aware that since the protocol on free movement of persons, services, labour and right of establishment was adopted by member states, only four member states have signed the protocol with one ratifying it,” he said.
He urged the member states that had not yet signed and ratified the protocol to do so, adding that the aspirations of the member countries for a better life for their people would only be achieved if leaders took bold decisions to implement what had already agreed.
The vice-president said the regional integration agenda would not be complete if people do not enjoy basic tenements of regional integration such as free movement across the borders.
COMESA secretary general Sindiso Ngwenya said the success of the programme on the movement of people depended on the harmonisation of immigration laws among COMESA member states.
“It is important that our ministers give us direction on how we can enhance the process of harmonising our immigration laws,” Mr Ngwenya said.
He said the people in the region were at the centre of the COMESA integration agenda as a factor of production as well as movement of goods and other factors of production such as technology transfer.
The meeting was attended by five ministers-in-charge of immigration from within the COMESA region.
[ Times of Zambia ]
now it will be tough what this means is that a guy from kenya can just walk into zambia apply for the job with hustles of work permit of talk of employing locals. this will be tough especially now that there is lots of talk able foreigners taking away everthing
So that Kunda can easily run to Kenya when MMD loses
Why is it that people only concentrate about things he says at rally’s. Kunda has never said any of those stupid things he says to a journalist, tv or on any radio station and yet, those are the things people concentrate on. I am waiting to see some sensible comments here because all im seeing is meaningless negativity. Eu has done it, why wont comesa do it. Ive noticed people only comment on senseless things, ifyabupubafye. Here a topic to have an intellectual discusion on, everyone is quiet.
No Kenyans allowed.They’ll flood this zed like south sudan and don’t play fair.Otherwise this is a good move to allow competition and allow capital to flow freely.Zambians we’ve been shielded too much such that we can’t compete and this will allow us to sharpen our capitalism.
#4 i like you comments excluding one about kenyans