Development of political integration: the case of the proposed political federation of the East African Community (2000-2020)

Abstract

The revival of the East African Community (EAC) in 1999 and the subsequent ratification of the EAC Treaty on 7th July, 2000 by Presidents Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, Daniel Torotoich Moi and Benjamin William Mkapa of Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania respectively had one ultimate goal; ensuring the integration of the East African region to the level of a Political Federation. Despite the earlier optimism, to-date no steady progress has been made to that end. The current study analyzes the impact of the proposed EAC political federation on its member states. The journey to achieving the Political Federation was envisaged to be a four step process starting with the Common Market, a Customs Union, a Monetary Union and ultimately a Political Federation. Whilst the Customs Union and Common Market were achieved in 2005 and 2010 respectively, the Monetary Union and Political Federation are still work in progress. It should be noted that the achievement of the first two pillars signals that the EAC countries are not averse to the original goal of establishing a Political Federation. Nevertheless, there has however been an acknowledgement that the establishment of the Political Federation will not be achieved in the short run, and thus a Political Confederation as a transitional mechanism has been mooted. Basing on a Case Study research design with carefully selected knowledgeable respondents using the Purposive sampling method, this study analyses the proposed East Africa Political Federation by examining its prospects and bottlenecks.