Delaying the East African federation is a wise move
Sep 04, 2007
BY OKODAN AKWAP<br><br>I am profoundly delighted that the East African Community (EAC) heads of state recently decided in Arusha to defer a decision on political federation.
BY OKODAN AKWAP
I am profoundly delighted that the East African Community (EAC) heads of state recently decided in Arusha to defer a decision on political federation.
This should put the EAC back on the right track. It should now progress slowly, but surely through the stages of a customs union, a common market, a monetary union and ultimately a political federation, as outlined in the treaty establishing the EAC
Top on the principles that should govern the practical achievement of the EAC objectives is a provision that there must be “people-centred and market-driven cooperation.â€
To this effect, there is a deliberate effort at encouraging the active and effective participation of people across the board. These include the presidents of member states, wananchi and their elected representatives, technocrats and private sector players.
This is meant to avoid the kind of situation in which the past presidents tended to assume exclusive ownership of the integration process of the former EAC. When they disagreed in some way, the EAC suffered.
The move to proceed faster to realise political federation by as early as 2010 came to be associated with their successors.
But Tanzanians have overwhelmingly rejected the wisdom of such a speedy process. I think they have a point. We should first deal with the problems associated with poverty and backwardness in our midst so as to lay down a firm foundation for political federation.
Through vigorous economic cooperation, we can raise a bigger middle class of consumers and private sector producers. This is the class that can marshal higher rates of savings and spearhead development programmes, raising the standards of living of the vast majority of the poor people in this region. The Asian middle class did that for their people in the 1960s and 70s. We can learn from their experience.
Backed by stronger institutions, higher standards of living and better quality of life, East Africans will be better prepared for a federal political union.
Presently, I doubt whether there are very many East Africans who can independently see any imperative for such a union. Much of their knowledge on the matter is influenced by the exhortations of their political leaders. I think there is a big problem in there.
I believe that the chief imperatives for regional integration should not emerge from triumphs of opinion by any particular individual or group. They should arise from the pressure of events or forces that push people in the direction of regional cooperation.
Events like wars and conflicts and forces unleashed by globalisation and international trade are some of the elements that generate much stronger incentives for cooperation.
Shared security concerns, for example, can push neighbours to erect strong regional architecture for conflict management. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which was established on May 28, 1975 in Lagos, Nigeria, provides an excellent example here.
For most of the regional organs and programmes to work, there is need for member states to cede some sovereignty to central institutions. Sometimes states are not happy with this. And the reason is in the very nature of states. Their claims to independence, equality and sovereignty sometimes get in the way of cooperation with other states.
Each time a state is called upon to consider a proposal affecting its territorial integrity, it asks the simple but pertinent question: what is in it for me? If Tanzania sees no immediate gain in an EAC political federation, you cannot really blame it, can you?
Ugandans need to focus more on the challenges of building capacity for maximising the tangible immediate and medium-term economic benefits that the EAC offers. There is more we can accomplish in the present economic climate than in the glory that political federation promises in the uncertain future.
The writer is the head of the department of mass
communication at Kampala International University
I am profoundly delighted that the East African Community (EAC) heads of state recently decided in Arusha to defer a decision on political federation.
This should put the EAC back on the right track. It should now progress slowly, but surely through the stages of a customs union, a common market, a monetary union and ultimately a political federation, as outlined in the treaty establishing the EAC
Top on the principles that should govern the practical achievement of the EAC objectives is a provision that there must be “people-centred and market-driven cooperation.â€
To this effect, there is a deliberate effort at encouraging the active and effective participation of people across the board. These include the presidents of member states, wananchi and their elected representatives, technocrats and private sector players.
This is meant to avoid the kind of situation in which the past presidents tended to assume exclusive ownership of the integration process of the former EAC. When they disagreed in some way, the EAC suffered.
The move to proceed faster to realise political federation by as early as 2010 came to be associated with their successors.
But Tanzanians have overwhelmingly rejected the wisdom of such a speedy process. I think they have a point. We should first deal with the problems associated with poverty and backwardness in our midst so as to lay down a firm foundation for political federation.
Through vigorous economic cooperation, we can raise a bigger middle class of consumers and private sector producers. This is the class that can marshal higher rates of savings and spearhead development programmes, raising the standards of living of the vast majority of the poor people in this region. The Asian middle class did that for their people in the 1960s and 70s. We can learn from their experience.
Backed by stronger institutions, higher standards of living and better quality of life, East Africans will be better prepared for a federal political union.
Presently, I doubt whether there are very many East Africans who can independently see any imperative for such a union. Much of their knowledge on the matter is influenced by the exhortations of their political leaders. I think there is a big problem in there.
I believe that the chief imperatives for regional integration should not emerge from triumphs of opinion by any particular individual or group. They should arise from the pressure of events or forces that push people in the direction of regional cooperation.
Events like wars and conflicts and forces unleashed by globalisation and international trade are some of the elements that generate much stronger incentives for cooperation.
Shared security concerns, for example, can push neighbours to erect strong regional architecture for conflict management. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which was established on May 28, 1975 in Lagos, Nigeria, provides an excellent example here.
For most of the regional organs and programmes to work, there is need for member states to cede some sovereignty to central institutions. Sometimes states are not happy with this. And the reason is in the very nature of states. Their claims to independence, equality and sovereignty sometimes get in the way of cooperation with other states.
Each time a state is called upon to consider a proposal affecting its territorial integrity, it asks the simple but pertinent question: what is in it for me? If Tanzania sees no immediate gain in an EAC political federation, you cannot really blame it, can you?
Ugandans need to focus more on the challenges of building capacity for maximising the tangible immediate and medium-term economic benefits that the EAC offers. There is more we can accomplish in the present economic climate than in the glory that political federation promises in the uncertain future.
The writer is the head of the department of mass
communication at Kampala International University