Regional Integration Committee chaired by Hon. Wanjiku Muhia (Kipipiri) held  stakeholders engagement with the Ministry of Roads and Transport and the Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs  in a bid to look for ways of collaboration and coordination to advance the cause of regional integration in the East Africa Community (EAC) region.

The Cabinet Secretary (CS), Ministry of Roads and Transport Hon. Kipchumba Murkomen and the two Principal Secretaries (PSs), Eng. Joseph Mbugua and Mr. Mohamed Daghar were the first lot to appear before the Committee.

During their engagement, Members sought to be apprised on a number of issues including the programmes and projects the Ministry is currently undertaking to support and enhance regional integration.

While responding to the questions, CS Murkomen told the Committee that the Ministry has deliberate plans towards boosting trade between Kenya and the rest of EAC region. He told the Members that plans are underway to expand the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) to Malaba border.

“Our country’s economy depends on regional integration touching on trade corridors that create employment and business opportunities from the port city of Mombasa to other cities and small towns across Kenya,” Hon. Murkomen said.

Members wanted to know how efficiency of cross-border transport can be increased with an aim of reducing the cost of trade across borders along the Northern and Central corridors.

Eng. Mbugua told the Members that having a joint regional approach to packaging and resource mobilization from development partners and for development of multinational or cross border highways between partner states was one of the interventions put in place by the Ministry.

Making his contribution, Mr. Daghar told the Committee that to reduce the congestion at weighbridges along highways, they have put in place automation of payment of overload fees and penalties by non-compliant vehicles using Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) and Mobile Money payment platforms.

Next to appear before the Committee were officials of the Ministry of Foreign and Diaspora Affairs led by the CS Dr. Alfred Mutua.

CS Mutua told Members that regional integration is an important facet of the country’s foreign policy and bottom-up economic transformation agenda.

“The Bottom-up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA) which is the Government’s plan, recognizes Kenya’s significance as an anchor State in regional integration particularly in the East African Community (EAC) which is one of the regional blocks that ultimately builds up to the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA),” Dr. Mutua said.