Prince Metternich of Austria said in the wake of French Revolution of 1789 that; "When France sneezes Europe catches a cold," This historic statement has been rephrased to signify the importance or influence of some regions in regard to others.

But how accurate is this statement when the names of France and Europe are substituted with the names Kenya and East Africa respectively?

Kenya's importance to Uganda and indeed to other East African member countries arises not only because of its advanced manufacturing sector, but also because of its people.

It is for this reason that we need to reflect on the implications of the coming into force, this month, of the Common Market Protocol.

Whereas the protocol allows all citizens of East Africa to freely move across borders, granted they have the national identification documents, we already know which direction this will take, at least in the short term.

In the case of Uganda, more Kenyans are likely to come here than Ugandans will move over to Kenya in search of greener pastures or business opportunities.

A few things however suggest that our leaders have learnt little or nothing from history.

Take for example, the 2007 post-election violence in Kenya.  For nearly a month, business life in Uganda almost came to a halt when Uganda's main transport routes got paralyzed.

The result spike in prices of most things, owing largely to fuel crunch, illustrated just how important Kenya is to Uganda.
 
"Chance favors a prepared mind"
Without doubt, most Ugandans are neither prepared nor informed about the whole integration thing. Judging by the discussions with the local folks back home, I notice that the integration business that is talk of town these days is still a remote thing to many of them.

It appears, however that the story is different when it comes to Kenyans.

 For example, on July 1, when the common market protocol came into force, I received five calls from Kenyan friends and acquaintances asking me about opportunities in Uganda.

The most alarming calls came from two unknown people who got my contact from friends and bombarded me with an array of questions about renting, business opportunities, taxes, and exchange rates of the Kenyan shilling!

Change is coming
We like it or not, fundamental changes are coming, I call them fundamental because that is what they will be.

Let's focus on the likely changes that may hit us thanks to the opening up of our borders.
 
Economic
Larger partners are known to swallow their smaller partners, so said one Ugandan Daily. When the Kenyan supermarket giants came to Uganda, our shopping norms changed.

For instance Kenjoy supermarket, located in Najjanankumbi along Entebbe road used to close at around 9.30pm. But the advent of Nakumatt which operates 24hrs a day seems to have brought about greater competition and forced the Ugandan chain to extend their closing hours to midnight.

Capital shoppers and many others will have to follow suit or lose customers who work and leave town late.

Work ethics: Kenyans are go-getters
A recent study by the World Bank on labour productivity in East Africa confirmed what has been known about the work ethics of the people of East Africa; that Kenyan workers are on average more productive compared to their counterparts in Uganda or Tanzania.

It is not a secret that Kenyans work harder when they get a job opportunity, but also their aggressive go-getter attitudes make them even more suitable for jobs like marketing, salesmanship and business intermediation, not to speak of other spheres of business where the skill is necessary.

Whereas most Ugandans are used to arriving at work at nine, spare more than an hour for lunch and leave for home or the bar before 5pm in the evening, many Kenyans work 10 hours a day and consider lunch a luxury and a source of laziness.

Unless we manage to adopt some of these practices, it does not require rocket science to know that very soon employers will start to favor Kenyans for jobs as opposed to Ugandans.

It does not only require individuals to adapt, it also calls for businesses to shape up. Take the 2008 petrol crunch in Uganda for instance.

In a number of Ugandan companies, employers excuse their workers for arriving late. And yet in Kenya, bosses could not take such excuses.

This is perhaps why most Kenyans have resorted to walking hence earning themselves the title of "the walking nation".

Social effects
In Nairobi, jokes are made of how Ugandans stroll luxuriously without any hurry, in fact they once pointed at a verity that, you will never see a Ugandan running on the street. I have proved this countless times.

While in Kenya everything is done in urgency.

Even their restaurants have no sitting space, when served one is supposed to go on the walls where there are raised boards where you are supposed to eat and move on(unless you decide to go to an expensive restaurant).

Crime
Despite their attributes, the influx of Kenyan students in Uganda has so far suggested we could be entering an era of increased organized crime including kidnapping, mugging, fraud, robbery and petty theft.

To illustrate my point, down town Nairobi there is a place called River Road, where known robbers can be pointed to you, as casually as you can point out a doctor.

 In other places like Eastleigh, a Nairobi suburb, gun trade is rampant and usually involves police officers who manage to sell the weapons to thugs at as low as $50-200 dollars.

One wonders whether Gen. Kayihura is prepared to deal with such levels of organized but illegal arms trade.

Police aside, are the other relevant government institutions in the areas of health, trade, tax collection education, immigration prepared?

Ishmael Masoud blog comments powered by Disqus

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