Suala la pasipoti mpya kwa raia wa Jumuiya ya Afrika Mashariki imesimamishwa kwa muda kuruhusu vipengee vipya vya kisasa kuingizwa katika toleo lijalo. Hivi sasa, hati za kusafiria haziwezi kusomeka kwa mashine wala kubeba data ya biometriska katika vichaka vya kompyuta vilivyoingizwa, na ili kuzifanya zikubalike zaidi, nyongeza hizi mpya lazima kwanza zipatuliwe.
Pasipoti hizo zilikuwa maarufu nchini Uganda na Kenya, ambapo wasafiri walihitaji tu kuwa na hati zao za kusafiria mara moja katika kila miezi sita ikiwa watavuka mipaka ya kitaifa kwenda kwa moja ya nchi wanachama wa EAC, lakini madai pia yameibuka kuwa maafisa wa uhamiaji katika mipaka ya ardhi na viwanja vya ndege. walipuuza tu sheria hizi na kuendelea kuzigonga kama pasipoti za kitaifa. Burundi na Rwanda walikuwa, baada ya kujiunga na EAC mwaka jana, bado hawajatekeleza suala la hati hizi za kusafiri.
Pasipoti za EAC pia hazikubaliwa kawaida nje ya mkoa, kwa kuwa wasafiri wengi wa kawaida hubeba pasipoti za kitaifa na EAC, hali ambayo sekretarieti ya Jumuiya ya Afrika Mashariki huko Arusha pia iliahidi kushughulikia kwa wakati kwa kuanza kwa kutoa hati za kusafiria za kizazi kijacho cha EAC . Wakati huo huo, raia wa nchi tano wanachama watatumia pasipoti zao za kitaifa kusafiri kote mkoa.
NINI CHA KUONDOA KATIKA MAKALA HII:
- The EAC passports were also not commonly accepted beyond the region, having many regular travelers carry both national and EAC passports, a situation the secretariat of the East African Community in Arusha also promised to address in time for the start of issuing the next generation EAC passports.
- The passports were popular in Uganda and Kenya, where travelers only needed to have their passports stamped once in every six months if moving across the national borders to one of the EAC member states, but allegations have also emerged that immigration officials at land borders and airports just ignored these rules and kept stamping them anyway like national passports.
- The issue of new passports for citizens of the East African Community has been temporarily suspended to allow new state-of-the-art features to be incorporated in the next edition.
