The clamour has died down in the chambers of the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) after months of squabbles that threatened unity of the body. As an organisation that was supposed to embody democratic principles, it beat all logic that a single person could go against the wishes of the majority of the house and nearly brought it into disrepute. EALA is a litmus test of the proposed political federation of the East African Community (EAC) and the just ended soap opera should sound a warning that petty self interests could be a major threat to the dream of a truly united region. Teething problems were to be expected which was the reason mechanisms such as the East African Court of Justice (EACJ) was able to act swiftly to avert a legislative stalemate. That is what members should resort to in case of misunderstandings among themselves, instead of playing out in the media and making a laughing stock of themselves in the process. The new leadership should focus on the aspirations of the regional community and lead the way in building a sound institution bereft of narrow interests. Otherwise, the future of the regional bloc could hang in balance at a time when regional integration projects show promise. It is every stakeholder’s wish that members of EALA have buried the hatchet and left the past behind them. Now they should be forward looking, drafting legislations that will be the foundation of the future and not set negative precedence. They owe the people of this region who sent them to Arusha. They should not let them down.
