President Kagame became the first to be issued a visa upon his arrival in Uganda using his ID card as a travel document.

President Kagame became the first to be issued a visa upon his arrival in Uganda using his ID card as a travel document.

Rwandan president Paul Kagame on Wednesday afternoon became the first East African Community citizen to be issued a visa using his ID card as a travel document.

Kagame who is in the country to attend the 4th Summit of Northern Corridor Integration Projects alongside presented his national ID launching use of national ID as travel document in Uganda, Kenya and Rwanda.

Previously, Ugandans  travelling to Kenya or Rwanda require either a passport or a pass from the Immigration department.

However, citizens of the three countries can now spend up to six months in a participating country using only their ID card.

Last year, president Museveni signed a pact with Kenya and Rwanda to remove travel barriers among the three countries in efforts to make it easier for entrepreneurs to operate across borders.

The ID initiative is meant to facilitate free movement of people within the region as stipulated in the East African Common Market protocol, the second stage of the integration process.

Currently, only Rwandans and Kenyans have national identity cards, meaning Ugandans will be using voter’s cards until the country issues IDs to its citizens.

The Northern Corridor countries of Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan will be participating in the Summit. Also invited is the United Republic of Tanzania as member of the EAC.

The Heads of State will also consider establishment of the Security Pact.

It should be recalled that during their last Summit in Kigali, the Single Customs Territory was launched and became operational on 1st January 2014.

These milestones are very important and pertinent to the people of the region, and will spur growth and development.

Meanwhile, Rwanda and Kenyan have started using their identity cards as Uganda waits on the voter’s cards which are yet to be issued.

The use of the Single tourist visa was also implemented on January 1 which will boost the number of tourists in the region.

A holder of a single tourist visa will be able to travel around the three countries without the burden of seeking any other travel document