East African Community

WHY EAC COULD BE RUINED AGAIN.

By Paul Amoru

In the words of a German philosopher Georg Hegel, “The only thing we learn from history is that we are doomed to repeat what we don't learn from history.”
With the increasing resurgence of suspicion within the duly revived East African Community (EAC), history could again repeat itself.
On the eve of the launch in November 1999, Tanzania's Vice-President, Dr Omar Ali Juma warned the partner states not to allow the community to collapse again.
Uganda’s long serving President Mr Museveni believes that a political federation could easily drive the economic and other socio-economic integration efforts.
But his Tanzanian counterpart believes that his country has good lessons to teach her colleagues in the region, learn out of the union of Tanyanyika and the islands of Zanzibar.
While Kampala is urging a fast approach, Tanzania insists on a slow process and last month succeeded in applying brakes on a fast tacked process.
Again in another development, Daily Nation of September 14 last year carried a report that Uganda’s President feels Kenya and Uganda can move on with the plans of an East African political federation and leave out Tanzania until it is ready.
Mr Museveni reportedly sent his envoy to Kenya immediately after the extra-ordinary Heads of State summit in Tanzania with the message that Kenya and Uganda can move on with the idea without Tanzania who are reluctant to embrace the proposal.
Uganda’s First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of East African Affairs, Mr Eria Kategaya on September 18 told reporters in Kampala that Uganda had not ruled out establishing a political federation with any other willing partner state.
“Tanzania did not agree with the speed but the option of beginning with those who are willing cannot be ruled out. The debate is on going,” he said.
Investigations by Uganda’s Daily Monitor revealed that one of the unresolved issues a head of the political federation is the question of political predictability among the different partner states.

While Tanzania observes a strict two five-year term limit on its Presidents, Uganda changed its constitution to revolving term limits, as Kenya successfully changed leadership.
In 1967 The East African countries decided to work together in a very close manner. The East Africans were much more integrated than even the European Community which has only joint discussions, joint subsidy policies, joint agricultural policies, but does not have joint assets.
It however collapsed after 10 years, with a number of difficulties in between. It failed because the three countries were not mature enough to have such an integrated system.
They had diverged policies. For instance, Kenya had a market-oriented policy; Tanzania had a centralized economy, more socialist-oriented; Uganda under Idi Amin had no policy at all. It was chaos.
Revived on January 1, 2005, after six years of tortuous negotiations, the E.A.C. has the ambitious goal of modeling itself on the European Union and eventually instituting a common currency and forging a political federation.
According to Dr. Michael A. Weinstein , at present the organization is primarily a customs union in which Kenya is pledged to eliminate trade restrictions on goods exported by the other two members.
Recently Trade ministers met to discuss dismantling trade barriers between the member states. Their deliberations were shadowed by trade disputes, pitting Kenya and Tanzania against Uganda, and Kenya and Uganda against Tanzania.

Analysts in the region saw signs that the same divisions that had caused the original E.A.C. to collapse in 1977 had once again opened up, threatening the success of the fresh experiment.
For example, Nairobi claims that Kenyan exports are being delayed from entering Tanzania and Nairobi's also decided to suspend imposition of tariffs on external imports of pharmaceuticals. In response, Tanzania threatened a legal suit aimed at protecting Tanzania's nascent pharmaceutical industry.
A committee on fast tracking the EAC has been gathering views from the over 120 million citizens from the three original partner states and mixed feeling were registered. About 80 per cent of Tanzanians in a referendum voted against fast racking political federation.
Strong ties among the East African states dates back to 20 century. Prior to the re-launching of the East African Community in 1999, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda enjoyed a long history of co-operation under successive regional integration arrangements.

These included the Customs Union between Kenya and Uganda in 1917, which Tanganyika later joined in 1927; the East African High Commission 1948-1961 and the East African Common Services Organization 1961-1967 leading to the previous East African Community that lasted from 1967 until its collapse in 1977.

Limited participation by people in decision-making, and a lack of compensatory mechanisms for addressing inequalities in the sharing of costs and benefits of integration ruined the gains of the community and the same signals are again visible today.

The Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community emphasizes peace, security and good neighbourliness as the cornerstones of the regional integration and development process.
EAC Chiefs of police met in Arusha on June 29, 2007. The meeting considered the wide range of regional peace and security issues, as well as effective measures to combat crime in the region.
However, security and border conflict remains unanswered tale and night mare to the community. The principle of peaceful co-existence, good neighborliness and peaceful resolution of disputes as articulated in the Treaty still seems far from practice.
For example, Aid agencies in Nairobi on July 28 said over 2,000 people were displaced and several others detained in Uganda following a cross border raids by Kampala soldiers.
"Villagers at Alale and Kacheliba divisions along the Kenya-Ugandan border fled their homes following incursion by Uganda People's Defense Forces," said area lawmaker Samuel Poghisio.
Following the earlier shooting between the Ugandan army and armed Pokots raiders, Kenyan police spokesman Erick Kiraithe could not confirm the number of people.
What a paradox! Away from the principle of peace, security and good neighbourliness as the cornerstones, lack of respect for territorial integrity, raids and killings of civilians will kill the community.
What about the recent 15 Kenyan suspects gunned down in Moshi in what the police described as attempted robbery? The Kenyan authority did not loose sleep over the killings saying that some of the suspects were on their top wanted list. But apparently their families are not satisfied with those claims just as other Kenyans termed the incident a massacre.
According to East African Standard of September 7, the late Kingara’s father, Mr James Njoroge was quoted saying his daughter has never been engaged in criminal activities.
"My daughter operates two businesses at the City - a driving school and a security firm. There is no reason for her to steal," said Njoroge.

The Financial Standard of Monday September said 10 Kenyan human rights activists were locked up in Moshi, Tanzanian, after they sought permission to carry out post mortem on the bodies of 14 suspects killed.

But Oscar Foundation Executive Director King`ara Kamau said: `We wish to categorically state that the killings were occasioned by misinformation and lacked any intelligent information to justify the killings.
Suspicion and economic inequality is still a big dilemma. A little bit of patience could rebuild and heal the bruises the community encountered in 1977. Pushing the political agenda too far could ruin the community again.
What experience and history teach is this; that people and governments never have learned anything from history, or acted on principles deduced from it.