EAC | POLITICAL CONFEDERATION | UNATTAINABLE

The First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for EAC Affairs, Rebecca Kadaga, has stated that achieving a loose East African Community (EAC) political confederation by next year will be impossible. 

Partner states had set their aim at achieving a confederation by 2024 as they continued with rigorous internal processes to harmonize on a political federation in the future. 

Politically, a confederation can be defined as a union of sovereign groups or states united for purposes of common action, while a political federation may be defined as a group of states with a central government but independent when it comes to their internal affairs. 

While addressing board members of the East African Business Council (EABC) at the Speke Resort Munyonyo Hotel in Kampala on Friday, Kadaga said a confederation will not be possible by next year due to some skeptical approaches among some partner states towards the integration agenda. 

“We are at a stage of integration, which is critical, and I want to reiterate that integration is inevitable; it’s the future for this region." "We can no longer continue small as we are each of us going to take on the rest of the world single-handedly,” she observed. 

The EABC board retreat is aimed at strategizing on how members can further the EAC intra-trade ties and strengthen the bloc to take advantage of the continental and international opportunities in line with the vision of a borderless East Africa. 

“We should work hastily and I would like to call upon members here to at least lobby their countries for an early opportunity to discuss the future of the federation because the consultations in the last four years have only taken place in Burundi and Uganda,” Kadaga said. 

During the 20th ordinary summit of the EAC heads of state, which was held in Tanzania in February 2019, consultations were directed after the majority of the member countries appeared uncomfortable with the political federation over nationalistic interests. 

However, the summit cited support for the confederation and resolved that it should be the beginning point in gathering confidence for a fully-fledged political integration. The regional leaders had indicated the possibility of achieving the confederation by 2024. 

“We are late, and we hope that we can move quickly so that the people of the region can benefit." "But we can’t have the confederation by next year,” stated Kadaga. 

Under Article 5(2) of the treaty that established the EAC, political federation is the ultimate goal, the fourth step after the customs union, common market, and monetary union. 

Almost on all the fronts of the integration agenda, Kadaga reiterated that they were facing outstanding challenges. 

“You have raised the issue to do with national identity cards; it is true, we have a challenge there. 

"For instance, if Ugandan traders go to Tanzania without a passport, they are automatically imprisoned, and yet Tanzania, Kenya, and Uganda are the oldest members of the community,” she noted. 

She said South Sudan was yet to enter the EAC customs union and that it has not ratified the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). 

She emphasized that the closure of borders was a very big issue, which not only affected trade but also the broader aspect of integration. 

“When I visited Katuna and I asked my officers what was going on, they told me that before the Rwanda border closed, all the cement for DR Congo was going through Katuna; we lost business because they had to find alternative routes,” she said. 

Despite the Uganda-Rwanda border reopening, she said the volume of business has remained low. However, she said the reopening of the Rwanda-Burundi border has reduced the cost of doing business between Uganda and Burundi. 

Angelina Ngalula, the EABC chairperson who hails from Tanzania, used the occasion to commend the Ugandan Government under the leadership of President Yoweri Museveni for steering the EAC and the continental integration agenda. 

“The EAC region has witnessed better trade ties and progress in the milestone of the EAC regional integration agenda. This includes bilateral trade opportunities between Tanzania and Uganda for the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) project, the elimination of non-trade barriers and reopening of the borders, and the admission of DR Congo into the EAC which creates an opportunity for member states to access a big market,” Ngalula said.