Nairobi — The Tanzanian Prime Minister has declared his country's commitment to the East African Community integration despite reservations. Meeting Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki yesterday, Mr Peter Mizengo Pinda said the integration would be achieved despite each member state having unique problems that could not be dispelled easily.

"The issues will be there for a while but with time they will be taken aboard and addressed," he said in Nairobi. East African leaders are to meet in November to sign the protocol establishing the East African Common Market.

The market, which was scheduled to come into place in 2010, is meant to provided free movement of goods, people and labour in the region.

Tanzania has however been reluctant to allow people from other member states to invest there, buy land, enter with their vehicles freely and have a common identification document.

Mr Pinda also informed his host that ritual killings of albinos in Tanzania had reduced due to government educational campaigns. Twenty eight albinos, he said, were killed between June 2007 and end of last year due to belief that their bones and skins brought riches and that since he started moving to the affected areas condemning the killings in March only three deaths have been reported.

President Kibaki said integration of small African economies was the only way to attract investments in the region while giving impetus to intra-Africa trade. "We all have an obligation to strengthen the East African Community. I am happy that we have Rwanda and Burundi as full members. A strong community is a big attraction to investors. African states must also trade among themselves more aggressively instead of relying on traditional channels of trade with Europe."