Harassment of ordinary citizens at border posts is considered to be one of the major hurdles to speedy economic and political integration of East Africa, according to a survey.

People interviewed in the region say customs and immigration officials were largely to blame for the situation, and called on relevant authorities to sort out the problem.

They said although there were several benefits to be accrued through EA integration, handling of the human and cargo traffic at the border posts was yet to be conducive to cross border trade.

This, according to them, has even affected the informal businesses carried out by small traders and farmers living or operating in the border townships and villages or the vicinity.

Most notable hurdles cited include slow verification of documents, high taxes and harassment of ordinary citizens or small traders by the officials.

No country, among the three, Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya, where the survey was carried out, was spared from blame. But the survey report mentioned Tanzania's regulatory systems as being the most discriminatory.

"Tanzania should stop discriminating business opportunities for other partner states and allow freedom of movement of goods and services," the consultants, who carried out the exercise on behalf of the East African Community, observed.

They said there was need to strengthen the capacity of government officials, starting from with the immigration, "so that they all have standard information on service provision to EA citizens."

The report, which was released in Arusha on Saturday, said ordinary citizens and bonafide travellers suffered most from discriminatory measures often taken by inconsiderate immigration officials at the borders.

Those interviewed during the survey complained that ordinary citizens can hardly enjoy "being East African" with the poor handling at the borders at present. This has not only inhibited their movement but also their informal trade, they said.

"It is important that a scheme of benchmarking the duration of immigration clearance with most efficient stations be done," said part of the report. It stressed on the need for cross border movement "with minimum documentation."

During the survey, Ugandans led the table (40 per cent) for their preference to use of abstracts in cross border movements compared to Kenya (20 per cent) and Tanzania (seven per cent).

Respondents interviewed in the three founder EAC member states insisted that "minimal documentation" should be used for small traders, especially those operating close to the common borders.

The consultants stressed that while senior officials of the partner states, business people and tourists were being well attended and handled at border posts, the situation was different with the ordinary people.

"It is important that they (ordinary citizens) are more involved in decisions made so that the process adopts a social and economic pillar rather than just a political pillar," the report said.

On business, the consultants said there was an urgent need to address the way business was being done in EA since economic growth was the pillar of the anticipated regional integration.

Dr Regina Mwatha-Karega, the lead consultant, said people interviewed in the three countries wanted major improvements in customs clearance procedures at the border posts.

Other suggestions include introduction of a 24-hour working system at the border posts to avoid long queues of heavy duty vehicles whose documents take long to verify.

Also proposed was actualisation of freedom of movement of goods "by removing any border restrictions," the use of one common EAC identification document and same standards for document verification at all borders.