Why query Museveni’s dream to lead EA Federation?
Apr 27, 2006
PROF. Patrick Asea argued in his article in <i>The New Vision</i> of April 24 that East Africa Federation (EAF) would not bring Uganda any economic (trade, foreign investments, market size) or political benefits that cannot be achieved under the East African Community (EAC).
Andrew Kanyegirire
PROF. Patrick Asea argued in his article in The New Vision of April 24 that East Africa Federation (EAF) would not bring Uganda any economic (trade, foreign investments, market size) or political benefits that cannot be achieved under the East African Community (EAC).
In the 1960s, Ghana’s Kwame Nkrumah argued that African states should seek political unity first through which they could achieve economic unity. His fellow Pan-Africanist, Julius Nyerere (until much later) favoured starting with smaller sub-regional economic and political units before total unification. Nkrumah felt that sub-regional cliques would enhance continental disunity and neo-colonialism.
Four decades later, Nkrumah has been vindicated given that until most recently; in the absence of real efforts towards political unification many African countries have been entrenching poverty, ethnic-nationalism and xenophobia by fighting wars against each other. In fact, even the EAC which Nyerere had worked so hard to kick-start collapsed in 1977 partly because of vested national-local interests and the absence of genuine political unity. Interestingly, it is also in this same regard that some ‘East Africans’ are today questioning President Museveni’s interest in becoming President of the EAF.
It is exactly because of poverty in all its dimensions that we should work towards a political federation. Political unity does not always have to concern or fulfill ‘purely’ economic processes or gains. Economic and political unities are not incompatible.
There’s a tendency to unknowingly reaffirm the stereotype that nothing good will come from African efforts. In doing this we end up turning a blind eye to certain moments in our history. Some of us have clearly forgotten that African states and countries were constructed by the 1885 Berlin Conference and that many of them have since been used to serve neo-colonial and local elite interests. Our histories, heritage and cultural interests have been divided by colonialism, apartheid, tribalism, bad leadership and tyranny in the absence of real political unity.
It is in this regard, particularly in the post 9/11 global context, that African countries have started looking towards political unification so as to address their political, security, diplomatic and cultural interests whilst consolidating their economic interests.
The writer is an economics
journalism researcher at Rhodes University, South Africa
PROF. Patrick Asea argued in his article in The New Vision of April 24 that East Africa Federation (EAF) would not bring Uganda any economic (trade, foreign investments, market size) or political benefits that cannot be achieved under the East African Community (EAC).
In the 1960s, Ghana’s Kwame Nkrumah argued that African states should seek political unity first through which they could achieve economic unity. His fellow Pan-Africanist, Julius Nyerere (until much later) favoured starting with smaller sub-regional economic and political units before total unification. Nkrumah felt that sub-regional cliques would enhance continental disunity and neo-colonialism.
Four decades later, Nkrumah has been vindicated given that until most recently; in the absence of real efforts towards political unification many African countries have been entrenching poverty, ethnic-nationalism and xenophobia by fighting wars against each other. In fact, even the EAC which Nyerere had worked so hard to kick-start collapsed in 1977 partly because of vested national-local interests and the absence of genuine political unity. Interestingly, it is also in this same regard that some ‘East Africans’ are today questioning President Museveni’s interest in becoming President of the EAF.
It is exactly because of poverty in all its dimensions that we should work towards a political federation. Political unity does not always have to concern or fulfill ‘purely’ economic processes or gains. Economic and political unities are not incompatible.
There’s a tendency to unknowingly reaffirm the stereotype that nothing good will come from African efforts. In doing this we end up turning a blind eye to certain moments in our history. Some of us have clearly forgotten that African states and countries were constructed by the 1885 Berlin Conference and that many of them have since been used to serve neo-colonial and local elite interests. Our histories, heritage and cultural interests have been divided by colonialism, apartheid, tribalism, bad leadership and tyranny in the absence of real political unity.
It is in this regard, particularly in the post 9/11 global context, that African countries have started looking towards political unification so as to address their political, security, diplomatic and cultural interests whilst consolidating their economic interests.
The writer is an economics
journalism researcher at Rhodes University, South Africa