East African Community (EAC) governments have been asked to fast-track the implementation of a single currency to facilitate trade in the region.

According to the East African Budget Network (EABN), the East African countries have not done enough to deliver on the pending actions of the East African monetary union roadmap for an East African single currency.

“We find that countries are still lagging behind. All the targets we were supposed to have by 2024 have now been pushed to 2031. We believe the way we do work, we might not even achieve that. There should be some different strategy that the countries need to do to work so hard to achieve the targets that we want,” Julius Mukunda, he executive director Civil Society Budget advocacy Group (CSBAG), said.

He made the remarks over the weekend during the East African Monetary Union Civil Society Summit held in Kampala.

The plan to have a single East African currency in 2024 collapsed in 2019 after the EAC council of ministers, the central decision-making and governing organ of the EAC, resolved the deadline was not attainable, sending member countries back to the drawing board.

This extended the deadline for attaining a single currency regime to 2031 to eliminate transaction costs of exchanging currencies and remove volatility in cross-border trading activities.

In the run-up to achieving a single currency, the EAC Partner States aimed at harmonise monetary and fiscal policies; harmonise financial, payment and settlement systems; harmonise financial accounting and reporting practices; harmonise policies and establish an East African Central Bank.

However, the East African Budget Network attributed the delay for a single currency to fear of the EAC member states losing independence.

“For one to have a single currency, you need a central East African bank, which means this business of going to our bank and picking up money is not going to be there. The way we regulate inflation and exchange rate is going to be done by the central bank. So, countries have that fear that if they give somebody powers to make decisions on their behalf, they shall lose control and power,” Mukunda said.

Julius Kapwepwe, the EABN co-ordinator, emphasised the need for the EAC citizens to hold their governments accountable to what they have signed to fast track the harmonisation of polices that will yield the East African Monetary Union.

The current chair of EABN from Rwanda, Alexis Nkurunziza, argued that it is time to put pressure on politicians to expedite East African Monetary Union.

“It is time we increase the momentum for letting EAC regional block operate,” Nkurunziza noted.

He pointed out that without citizen’s participation in the budget processes, it is hard to know the priorities each country is taking.

The Kenyan counterpart member, Bernard Njiri, from Institute of Public Finance (IPF), stressed a need to need to having a strong judiciary that will defend citizens as Governments with the partner states tend to ignore the demands of the citizenry.

The commissioner at the finance ministry, Dr Albert Musisi, said CSOs have a crucial role to play in attaining the East African Monetary Union.

“CSOs are the most critical stakeholders in driving the implementation of agreed actions,” Musisi stated.

However, the commissioner outlined some of the challenges derailing East African Monetary Union (EAMU) as fears of losing national sovereignty and ability to make independent national decisions, which have affected full implementation