EAC needs standards and values to function

Each time a person visits an East African capital, they leave with a unique impression of the place. You even hear this when people who have had the chance to travel across the region are conversing. As one talks about Bujumbura or Dar es Salaam, another will interject with a comparison of how things are different in Nairobi or Kampala. Of course the communities are remarkably different and as a region, we can have faith in the concept of ‘unity in diversity’ just like the European Union (EU). Interestingly the East African Community (EAC) is always compared to the EU even when the original EAC came into existence long before the EU. The reason why the EAC eventually collapsed at its first attempt calls for a serious evaluation of what the EU is doing right that has allowed, it to not only survive but go on to become a major world player economically and politically. Unfortunately, it seems to me that our policy makers have swept important factors under the carpet and stuck to ear-sweetening and Utopian rhetoric about the community thus making it a marvellous concept on paper but thin on the ground. The original EAC members were basically linked by the fact that they were all colonised by the British; so they were bequeathed the region an English speaking elite class that could comfortably communicate with each other and run the newly independent countries. Then there was the issue of the Swahili language, which to a large extent provided a social thread that cut across the borders. This language certainly boosted trade among the three nations. Other factors like the railway system and the sharing of crucial resources like Lake Victoria also played their part in making the people feel connected. Eventually it was inevitable not to ignore Rwanda and Burundi which also had strong linguistic and trade ties with the other three. Right now we have a community of five countries whose goal is to pursue social and economic integration and eventually a political federation. What bothers me is that even before the five countries have achieved significant integration, many are already talking about the ‘inevitable’ admission of Southern Sudan and probably the Democratic Republic of Congo. The million dollar question here is what is the criterion for admission to the EAC? Does the community even have one in place? They should be common values and standards held by those already in the community. So what are the standards and values of the EAC? For instance, just recently the members of the East African Legislative Assembly were calling for extension of the ban on polythene bags to cover the whole region. It has already been successfully implemented here in Rwanda since 2004. Their argument is that the region needs to have a uniform environmental policy. This obviously makes a lot of sense considering that we share many natural resources like forests and the water sources like the Nile River and Lake Victoria. As if that is not enough, a lot of trade involves food and livestock which are negatively affected by the polythene bags. A good regional environmental policy is vital for the region as a whole to survive. Such policies should be standard for the member states to give the community a character and values to live by. I am honestly tired of other East Africans visiting Kigali and talking about how clean it is while back in their countries the issue of the dangerous polythene bags receives lip service. This has been the case in Uganda and Kenya. Instead of the legislators at Arusha preoccupying themselves with the Trans-boundary Ecosystem Bill 2010 we should be looking at the bigger picture of standardising so many things like the education system, the monetary system, immigration policies as well as the political systems. Right now each country is having different systems, and this has only served to slow down the process of integration as people attempt to move from one place to another. The EAC urgently needs to harmonise its systems if it is to achieve its objectives. More importantly once these standards are in place the community will be armed with viable criteria for admitting other countries. In other words, instead of just talking about admitting Southern Sudan we should be able to give them a list of terms and conditions to meet before they can join our family. The European Union has used this system and that is why it is a fairly successful bloc. The process of being admitted is so strict that countries like Turkey are still on the waiting list. We need to start by harmonising, and then we can tell those who want to join us to match us so that we can all live happily ever after. ssenyonga@gmail.com