The deployment of elements of the Mixed Brigade from January 1 constitutes one of the main resolutions of the last Interstate Committee of the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC) meeting from June 17 to 20 in Bangui , in the Central African Republic. Made up of gendarmes, police officers, customs officers, eco-guards, etc. from each of the six member countries, the Cémac mixed brigade is responsible for promoting the free movement of people and goods in the sub-region.
The operationalization of the Cémac mixed brigade would represent a major step forward in terms of integration, in particular the free movement of people and goods in the Cémac zone considered to be the least integrated community area on the continent. In this sub-region, the volume of intra-community trade remains low, barely 3%, while administrative and police harassment continues to hamper free movement.
At the end of the work chaired by Auxence Sinclair Mbodou Nzongo, the Director General of Economic Programming of the Central African Republic, the inter-State committee authorized a test deployment by a first joint mission in the Central African Republic from June 24 to 28, 2024 . The support of Member States is requested for the implementation of the operationalization plan focused on awareness-raising, capacity building, budgeting, equipment and popularization of community texts ,” specifies the inter-State committee, in the meantime validation of all measures by the Council of Ministers of the Central African Economic Union.
The effectiveness of this mixed brigade on the ground depends, in fact, on the commitment of the competent authorities of each Member State, despite the stated will of the Cémac Commission. It should be added that the ministers involved in this process have qualified personnel at border posts to ensure the operationalization of the Cémac mixed brigade. The main challenge is to remove the numerous barriers on the main roads and to put an end to extortion of travelers by public force agents.
If the community authorities are already working on the legal status of the staff of this new entity and its mode of intervention, the question arises about the financing of the operation and the equipment of the teams. The project to create the mixed brigade provides, it should be remembered, for the provision of elements with modern equipment consisting of scanners, metal detectors, etc., including the construction of integration corridors in the Cémac zone.
In addition to this aspect of integration, the inter-State committee also examined community regulations relating to civil aviation, the progress of the I-CEMAC project concerning the security of border posts in partnership with Interpol. The work also focused on the plan for the transformation of community institutions, a reform desired by the new president of the Cémac commission, Baltasar Engonga Edjo’o. This involves reforming the Commission, its budgetary management, its program of activities and its staff, with the aim of making it more efficient.
