By Spy Uganda
The Pan-African Pyramid has called on Kenyan President William Ruto to ensure that Ugandans and other East African citizens engaged in legitimate economic activities in Kenya are not unfairly targeted, warning that discriminatory treatment could undermine the principles of regional integration.
In a statement issued on September 9, the organisation’s Founding Speaker and Chairman, Andrew Irumba Katusabe, said the Pan-African Pyramid was deeply concerned by reports of Ugandans and other East Africans being pushed out of small businesses and informal employment in Kenya.
Katusabe reminded President Ruto and the Kenyan Government that the East African Community (EAC) was established to bring the people of the region closer together rather than create economic barriers based on nationality. He said regional integration is founded on the free movement of people, goods, services, labour and capital.
He noted that the existing arrangements allowing Kenyans and Ugandans to cross each other’s borders using national identity cards demonstrate the region’s commitment to deeper integration.
“We therefore cannot remove barriers for capital while erecting barriers against ordinary East Africans seeking work, trading opportunities and livelihoods,” Katusabe said.
He argued that crossing a colonial-era boundary should not automatically turn one East African into a foreigner in another part of the region, particularly when that person is engaged in legitimate economic activity.
According to Katusabe, Kenya retains the right to enforce its laws, but enforcement should be conducted fairly and on an individual basis rather than targeting people because they originate from another East African country.
He warned that East Africa should avoid falling into the kind of xenophobic tensions witnessed elsewhere on the continent, saying regional integration would lose its meaning if ordinary Africans were treated as outsiders within their own region.
“The real test of Pan-Africanism is how we treat the ordinary African who crosses a border in search of work, trade, opportunity and dignity,” he said.
Katusabe also questioned why ordinary workers, traders, farmers, mechanics, technicians and small entrepreneurs should face restrictions on cross-border economic activity when major investors are able to operate in different countries across the region.
“Integration cannot be designed for the wealthy while restricting the ordinary African,” he said.
He further appealed to President Ruto to reconsider any measures or rhetoric that could unfairly affect Ugandans and other East Africans involved in legitimate economic activities in Kenya.
Katusabe said Uganda and Kenya have historically supported each other during difficult periods, including through regional security cooperation, and argued that the longstanding relationship between the two countries should extend to the treatment of their citizens.
“Kenya is not merely Uganda’s neighbour. Kenya is part of our shared East African home, and Uganda is part of Kenya’s,” he said.
He warned that East Africa’s ambitions of building a stronger regional bloc and eventually achieving deeper political integration could be undermined if citizens are encouraged to fear or distrust one another because of national borders.
“We cannot preach one Africa while practicing many Africas. We cannot build the East African Federation while teaching our people to fear one another,” Katusabe said.
He called for the EAC to remain a community in practice rather than merely in name, concluding with an appeal for unity across the region: “One People. One Region. One Destiny. Pan-Africanism Is The Future.”
