SPEECH BY HIS EXCELLENCY HON. UHURU KENYATTA, C.G.H.

, PRESIDENT AND COMMANDER IN CHIEF OF THE DEFENCE FORCES OF THE REPUBLIC OF KENYA DURING THE 15TH SUMMIT OF THE EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY HEADS OF STATE, KAMPALA, UGANDA, 30 TH NOVEMBER, 2013 Your Excellencies, My Brothers and Colleagues, fellow East African Community Heads of State, Members of the EAC Council of Ministers, The Secretary !eneral of the East African Community, "istinguished !uests, #adies and !entlemen, $t gi%es me much &leasure to 'oin you at this Summit( As always, $ and my delegation ha%e en'oyed being in the beautiful city nestled in the hills of the im&ala( $ ta)e this early o&&ortunity to than) Your Excellency, my brother *resident Yoweri +aguta Muse%eni, for the warm welcome accorded to us since our arri%al( This Summit underlines a &eriod of accelerated &rogress in the 'ourney towards East African $ntegration, and the socio economic em&owerment of our &eo&les( ,%er the &ast year, in &articular, the Community has registered tremendous strides and energi-ed acti%ity in many fronts( The strides we ha%e ta)en are big, and ha%e &ut us firmly on the road to full attainment of our collecti%e as&irations( $ commend Your Excellency, *resident Muse%eni for ably chairing the Summit for the last one year( Your energy, focus and commitment ha%e been ins&iring, and ha%e brought much desired momentum to the East African Community.s /uest for &ros&erity( 0nder your chairmanshi&, the Community has achie%ed im&ortant milestones which ha%e brought great benefits to the &eo&le of East Africa( $n the same %ein, $ ta)e this o&&ortunity to than) my Brothers, His Excellency *resident *aul +agame, His Excellency *resident 1a)aya +i)wete, His Excellency *resident *ierre 2)urun-i-a for their un/ualified &artnershi& in the ad%ancement of our %ision of integration( The Community is now fully embar)ed on enormous, ambitious and transformati%e initiati%es( Excellencies, #adies and !entlemen, 3e are res&onding to the im&erati%e of our time4 to ex&and our res&ecti%e national ca&acities while at the same time integrating in order to o&timi-e our benefits from the economies of scale( E%erywhere in the world, mar)ets are coalescing into formidable economic &owers(

$n East Africa, we are called u&on to rise u& and com&ete effecti%ely in the global economy( To de%elo& the necessary ca&acity, we must dee&en e%en the more trade amongst each other( This way, our &ri%ate sectors will de%elo& the strength, resilience and stature needed to ta)e on the world( 3e intend to ma)e the East African Community the ideal launching ground to global com&etiti%eness( All this re/uires constant effort, and attention to all as&ects of the integration &rocess( The &romise of &ros&erity and economic de%elo&ment hinges on the soundness of our integration( $t is therefore useful, from time to time, to ta)e a good loo) at what has been accom&lished, and what remains to be done(

This Summit ta)es &lace at a critical time( 5or 6 years, we the East African Community ha%e been im&lementing the Common Mar)et, while the Customs 0nion was launched 7 years ago( 3e are commencing the third im&ortant &illar of integration, which is the Monetary 0nion( The signing of the East African Community Monetary 0nion *rotocol is the logical culmination of our integration efforts( 3e now ha%e the framewor) re/uired to unloc) the &romise of integration( The 0nion will eliminate the costs attendant to 'uggling different currencies, thereby reducing transaction costs( Moreo%er, currency %olatility and fluctuation will be minimi-ed( Businesses will find more freedom to trade and in%est more widely, and foreign in%estors will find additional, irresistible reasons to &itch tent in our region( Such ad%antages will no doubt result in increased in%estment and further transformation of East Africa( Excellencies, #adies and !entlemen, E%er since the establishment of the Customs 0nion and the Common Mar)et, intra EAC trade has continued to increase( The Monetary 0nion will cataly-e trade growth e%en further, and this is something great to loo) forward to( 2ow the intention of integration through the instruments and institutions of the Community is manifest4 to eliminate barriers to mo%ement of &eo&le, goods and ser%ices within the Community( The logic of integration does not admit the maintenance or existence of these barriers( $n other words, we ha%e a duty as a Community to gi%e life to the instruments we establish by rigorously and conscientiously abiding by their &ro%isions( Barriers to trade, in &articular, assail the s&irit of the Common Mar)et, Customs 0nion and the Monetary 0nion( ,ur business community has continued to &lay a %ital role in embracing the Customs 0nion( 3e encourage in%estors and businesses to enhance their &artici&ation and increase their commitment to &owering economic growth in the Community( This call goes in tandem with efforts to im&ro%e the business en%ironment in the Community(

Excellencies, #adies and !entlemen, "es&ite im&lementing the Customs 0nion, numerous non tariff barriers continue to hold bac) trade, and increase the cost of doing business in East Africa( Such barriers, li)e unnecessary and lengthy clearing &rocedures and regulations, constitute significant obstacles to our regional business com&etiti%eness( ,thers, affecting the free mo%ement of &ersons and ser%ices also &ose a similar threat( 3e must confront these barriers with urgency( 3e must remo%e those obstructions in the &ath of our Community.s engine of growth( $t is time to liberate our &eo&le, businesses and ca&ital to mo%e freely within the Community and allow them to do their rightful wor) of generating &ros&erity( That is the &romise of integration( Excellencies, #adies and !entlemen, The full benefits of our Community.s trade initiati%es will not be reali-ed unless the business en%ironment is inclusi%e( Businesses and traders in the small and micro enter&rises sector need to be enabled to trade in the regional arena( $ commend the wor) done in this regard, es&ecially through regional exhibition( Howe%er, the sector could do with more s&onsorshi&( $, therefore, call u&on regional cor&orations to su&&ort trade initiati%es in the sector(

Excellencies, #adies and !entlemen, 5or integration to wor) as intended, it must be under&inned by a sound infrastructure system( Effecti%e roads, railways, a%iation, &ort, $CT and energy infrastructure are re/uired to su&&ort the %igorous enter&rises within a forward loo)ing Community( "e%elo&ment of infrastructure connecting our countries is, therefore, the foundation of integration( Much wor) has been done to im&lement the East African 8oad "e%elo&ment 2etwor), and we ha%e sa%oured the foretaste of what infrastructure contributes to &ros&erity( The region.s largely outdated railway networ) has betrayed our de%elo&ment as&irations( $ts inefficiency has cast a dis&ro&ortionate burden on the slow, cumbersome and more costly road networ)( As a result, the cost of goods and ser%ices is unduly high and sim&ly uncom&etiti%e while at the same time, our road networ)s deteriorate ra&idly( 0&grading the railways networ) within the Community will, therefore, go a long way to boost our national and regional com&etiti%eness(

$t is clear, therefore, that much needs to be done in order to &lace our integration agenda firmly u&on the foundation of modern infrastructure( Although infrastructure demands intensi%e in%estment of funds, it is ne%ertheless an in%estment which ma)es the difference between &rogress and failure( A good har%est ne%er grew easily9 the more diligent farmer rea&s a more bountiful cro&( $t is well )nown, Excellencies, that we are diligent farmers( Your Excellencies, #adies and !entlemen, ,ur de%elo&ment &artners ha%e continued to su&&ort the growth of our community( Today, we ha%e witnessed this su&&ort being extended to the arena of wider international di&lomacy( The growing interest to accredit en%oys to the Community underscores this su&&ort( $ extend dee& a&&reciation for this highly %alued &artnershi&, and ho&e that it grows dee&er and stronger, based, of course, on mutual res&ect( Your Excellencies, #adies and !entlemen, As our integration crystalli-es into socio economic and &olitical reality, we must lea%e nobody behind( $t is necessary, therefore, for the Community as a whole to intensify ci%ic education, creating awareness and sensiti-ing all citi-ens of East Africa on its meaning, benefits and o&&ortunities( #et us therefore, in%est more resources and effort into a com&rehensi%e &rogramme for this &ur&ose( As $ conclude, $ commend the Council of Ministers, the Secretariat, ably led by Ambassador Se-ibera, the Secretary !eneral, for the excellent wor) they ha%e done in effecti%ely furthering the integration &rocess( !oing forward, $ urge you to wor) e%en harder in order to confront any new challenges as we continue on our 'ourney( 5inally, $ reaffirm my !o%ernment.s commitment to East African Community dream( 3e in +enya are fully cogni-ant of the tremendous benefits we stand to rea& from this integration %ehicle( More im&ortantly, $ see greater de%elo&ment and ha&&iness for all our &eo&les in East Africa( Therefore, be assured of our unconditional commitment to continue to accord &riority to the agenda of the Community( 3e are now a &eo&le destined for greatness, &ros&erity and ha&&iness( ,ur borders are fast becoming mere formalities( As we integrate, we cease to be a grou& of neighbouring nations, and become one &eo&le( #et us thin) with one mind, s&ea) with one %oice and wal) on one road to our &romised destination, :A better East Africa for all its citi-ens;( Than) You <ery Much and May !od Bless You(