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Speaking time 11 minutes 4 Sec

The East African Community in this write-up I will refer to as EAC, is something I have written about before and I have not changed my perspective about it because of the reality on the ground. The EAC is one of the small parts that are vital for the proper functioning of a United Africa something that is fiction at the moment. The dream could turn into reality when the African (AU) and African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCTA) are operational to the benefit of the ordinary African, which they are far from at the moment.

The EAC started off with three members with roots as back as 1917 when Kenya and Uganda started a joint customs and Tanzania in 1927. Up to 1977, the EAC had what is referred to as “The East African Currency Board” which is said to have been the blueprint for the Euro and the whole European Union Central bank. In 1993 the EAC was reintroduced and in 2006 it took effect with some bit of operation that are seen today. In 2009 the EAC was expanded to five (5) countries with Burundi and Rwanda joining the fold. In 2011 the presidents of Kenya and Rwanda invited South Sudan after its independence and the country was approved in March 2016 after a long process that nearly failed. Tanzania thought the Democratic Republic of Congo too should join in 2010 and the DRC IN 2019 applied and approved in July 2022. At the moment Somalia is in the process of joining the EAC and having had Armies from the EAC acting as peacekeepers when Mogadishu had its government sitting in Nairobi they are definitely going to join the regional bloc.

When DRC joined the community there was this outlandish narrative that the East African Federation (EAF) which is the end goal of the EAC is going to be a world superpower. Every political prophet claimed the EAC’s population of 310+ million people was a magic bullet to economic success in a region that is currently facing drought, flood, heat waves, pests, and diseases that a ravaging it as though it’s a no man’s land with no operational authorities.

One of the indicators of economic success is mass industrialization. On the ground, there is nothing that shows with regard to industrialization in the EAC. The 310+ million population has not really attracted commercially viable inward investment especially because of poor infrastructural development. EAC has no country that gives periodic numbers of jobs created per maybe 3 months because the number of about 30 million unemployed youth is constant. If there is any manufacturing in East Africa it can’t be traced to the world market.

At the moment DRC the newest member of the EAC is one of the biggest jokes for example in 2023 Kinshasa hosted the annual Summit for SADC Southern African Development Community another bloc that serves the same purpose as EAC. One may say this is normal because Tanzania too is a member of both but this issue is sending Africa into a spiral of confusion. Africa has 8 organizations like EAC for trade purposes but some have an end goal of uniting into one country. These 8 organizations have 106 members out of a pool of Africa 54 or 55 countries. Yap no one is sure of how many countries are in Africa. 106 is because many members belong to more than one Regional Economic Communities. DRC and Tanzania make the community a joke in that they have stretched diplomatic capacities and this kills efficiencies. Then they are divided loyalties and we have seen how EAC members all make different votes in the UN General assembly meaning they have different policies on the geopolitical level and are not willing to solve that at the moment.

The DRC nearly lead to the burning up of Africa in the second Congo war which saw the continent pick sides on the battlefield, it’s equally been causing major issues in EAC, and toward the end of President Kikwete’s term in office he led to the formation what was called the coalition of the willing as Rwanda and Uganda sidelined Tanzania on the issue of March 23rd Movement (M23) militia in the Eastern Part of DRC. Through the UN a mechanism was worked out for members of EAC from a joint military organ to flash out the M23 which only Tanzania did and they beat the hell out of the militia on the battleground, then Uganda and Rwanda were supporting M23 and the militia’s aim was now an independent state that would break away from DRC. In recent times the son of the Ugandan President and a high-ranking military officer has made that ambition clear in a series of tweets. Even when DRC officially joined the EAC the drama continued with Rwanda shooting at Congolese fighter jets as Kigali claims Kinshasa violets its air space but DRC says the incident happened when they were bombing M23 position. Kenya has sent troops through Uganda to go help fight rebel groups in Eastern DRC and Uganda is there hunting for rebels that were aiming to create instability in Uganda. EAC members are keeping rebels that want to overthrow the EAC governments one of the reasons why EAC failed and closed down in 1977 was when Tanzania helped rebels overthrow a government in Uganda.

Everyone who is honest and enthusiastic about the African renaissance looked forward to 2012 when the EAC central bank was meant to make a comeback of sorts. 2012 is long gone and the monetary union has fallen into the mist of history and myth at the moment. The target of agreeing on the formation of a monetary union after two years of talks amongst economics brains in the region was expected that a protocol would be approved at the EAC heads of state summit which would have started the process of monetary integration. At the moment no one even talks about it. It’s a blunt joke of not nothing working in the EAC.

The other joke of the would-be next world superpower is South Sudan, Juba on a number of occasions has failed to meet its membership financial obligations. Since independence, Juba has failed to organize an election and the first is expected this year. But the failure to organize an election led to a civil war in which Members of EAC take sides, the President of Uganda supported the government’s position overstaying its mandate while Kenya and the other members preferred an election and supported the Vice President then to take power. In the future, most current events watchers envision a conflict between Kampala and Nairobi over trade in Juba as the country is headed on an infrastructure development scheme in their state building.

Within the EAC we have seen Rwanda close its borders for goods coming from Uganda, and we have further seen Kenya refuse Ugandans from exporting Maize within their market, Kenya and Tanzania are ever at it with these border woes. They have been events when Uganda and South Sudan use guns and soldiers are even killed in border wars. The customs union is a joke, the EAC failed to foster the custom union.

There are different priorities within the East African Community. This has led to the failure of ensuring that all countries benefit equally from regional integration. Kenya’s currency appreciates while the currencies of other countries depreciate, this happens and no one says a thing to explain. All these countries have decided to build their own national carrier instead of uniting and operating an East African Airline of sorts, the Railway system has also failed to make inroads. They also have oil and gas deposits but each is pushing its own trade agenda with Uganda even changing the route of its pipeline to make sure Kenya is not part of it even if it was shorter.

With all this, the EAC is supposed to be one country with one government meanwhile its Legislative body that seats in Arusha is made up of Members of Parliament that are not elected by the people they represent. A superpower is being formed but with traits of anti-democracy and it’s thought to have a place in the modern world. EAC has been singing about a joint military force another of the plans that are still fiction. Apart from UNEB helping out with national exams in South Sudan, there is no cooperation in academia at all, and finding a job across the border is a miracle. The joke

Anyway, watch out for the next one about the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and its decline.

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