Former EAC boss Mwapachu tips on integration

 By Isaac Mwangi

Former East African Community Secretary General, Juma Mwapachu, has proposed that 2014 be declared the Year of East African Citizens in an effort to encourage nationals of the five partner states to begin thinking of themselves as East Africans.

Speaking on the first day of the EAC Secretary General’s Forum for the private sector, civil society and other interest groups held in Nairobi, Mwapachu urged the current Secretary General, Dr Richard Sezibera, to make this proposal to the Council of Ministers and the Summit at their sittings in November.

 Mwapachu, who is now president of the Society for international Development, presented a paper entitled, “Deepening EAC Integration: The Role of Citizens.” Drawing from the example of the European Union, he also called for amendment of the EAC Treaty to establish an East African Citizen Initiative.

The Treaty on European Union was amended by the Treaty of Lisbon, which came into force in December 2009, to provide for the European Citizens’ Initiative. The year 2013 was designated by the EU as the European Union Year of Citizens.

A major problem facing the region, Mwapachu said, was the tendency by major players such as the political leadership, the media and organized civil society to address issues that have a bearing on regional integration from a dominant national perspective.

“In such circumstances, a huge awareness deficit of regional as opposed to national issues exists which negatively impacts the EAC. Given such an environment, how do you promote a churning of broad-based citizen consciousness and action on regional integration beyond conventional seminars, conferences and forums? And how do you also promote a mind-set shift of ordinary citizens from national-based issues to a focus on the big picture of costs and benefits of regional integration?”

In the session chaired by East African Business Council executive director Andrew Luzze, Mwapachu presented four institutional challenges that he said had to be confronted if citizen participation in the regional agenda was to be successful. First is the fact that the EAC is run principally as an inter-governmental organization. Yet, the issues it addresses – such as the Customs Union, Common Market and Monetary Union, affect all citizens of the region.

Second, the East African Legislative Assembly is not elected by the citizens, but only draws legitimacy from the parliaments that elect EALA members. There are also no proper structures at the national level where EALA members can promote a structured dialogue with citizens.

Third, in contrast to what takes place at national levels where the executive tables important policy issues before the legislature to secure legitimacy, this is rarely the case on important issues affecting the EAC. The only exception is in the ratification of protocols in countries where such a system exists. Of particular note is that most parliaments lack effective special committees that specifically deal with EAC integration issues.

In addition, the jurisdiction of the East African Court of Justice needs to be extended to cover broad-based commercial disputes that fall within the Customs Union and the Common Market, as well as political and human rights issues. This, Mwapachu said, will help in providing “a deeper space for citizen engagement in EAC affairs and give the EAC greater legitimacy in the eyes of its citizens.

Earlier, the conference had been opened by Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for East African Affairs, Commerce and Tourism Phyllis Kandie, who said it was important to hold regular dialogue with key stakeholders in order to get their views and expectations on the various stages of integration.

Successful integration, Kandie said, presumes solid support by the citizens of the participating partner states. “Such support is based on the availability of full and complete information on all areas of integration. In many cases, however, this is not the case. In reality, there is always information and knowledge gaps between policy makers, executing agencies, the general public, and the media. Such information gaps often undermine the good policy intentions, or fundamentally slow down the integration process.”

In his remarks, Dr Sezibera challenged the civil society and private sector to strengthen cross-border alliances and networks with like-minded organizations in order to fulfill the collective mission of building a unified and prosperous East Africa. “Our collective sense of mission should be to work towards a fully integrated East Africa with all East Africans living in harmony with each other, an East Africa whose overriding agenda is the improvement of the living conditions of its people.” East African News Agency