THE EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY (EAC)
The East African Community (EAC) is a regional intergovernmental organization of six Partner States: the Republics of Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, the United Republic of Tanzania, and the Republic of Uganda, with its headquarters in Arusha, Tanzania.
The work of the EAC is guided by its Treaty which established the Community. It was signed on 30th November 1999 and entered into force on 7th July 2000 following its ratification by the original three Partner States - Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.
The Republic of Rwanda and the Republic of Burundi acceded to the EAC Treaty on 18th June 2007 and became full Members of the Community with effect from 1st July 2007. The Republic of South Sudan acceded to the Treaty on 15th April 2016 and become a full Member on 15th August 2016.
THE OBJECTIVE OF THE EAC
(i) The strengthening and consolidation of co-operation in agreed fields that would lead to equitable economic development within the Partner States and which would in turn, raise the standard of living and improve the quality of life of their populations.
(ii) The promotion of sustainable utilization of the natural resources of the Partner States and the taking of measures that would effectively protect the natural environment of the Partner States.
(iii) The strengthening and consolidation of the long standing political, economic, social, cultural and traditional ties and associations between the peoples of the Partner States so as to promote a people-centered mutual development of these ties and associations.
(iv) The mainstreaming of gender in all its endeavors and the enhancement of the role of women in cultural, social, political, economic and technological development.
(v) The promotion of peace, security, and stability within, and good neighborliness among, the Partner States.
(vi) The enhancement and strengthening of partnerships with the private sector and civil society in order to achieve sustainable socioeconomic and political development.
(vii) The undertaking of such other activities calculated to further the objectives of the Community, as the Partner States may from time to time decide to undertake in common.
Achievements of the East African Community
1. Increase of members. The Republic of Rwanda, Burundi and Southern Sudan has joined the EAC and the increased the size of membership and membership contributions.
2. Intercontinental recognition. Currently the EAC is recognized globally and representatives from various countries and international organizations have submitted their credentials to the Secretary General of the East African Community. There are other countries envying to join the regional bloc e.g. Somalia, Ethiopia and others.
3. Attraction of foreign investors. The region has increased both inter- and intra-regional trade, and has also witnessed an increase in intra-EAC Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) as well as in FDI from outside.
4. Establishment of the EALA and other institutions. The East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) has passed several community laws and the Council of Ministers has established various Sectorial Councils to oversee policy issues in the regional integration progress.
5. Regional recognition of standards. There is mutual recognition of standards marks across the region where the bureaus of standards have developed an EAC catalogue of Standards.
6. Facilitation of trade. In pursuit of facilitating trade the EAC has embarked on a mission to establish One Stop Border Posts that have already been articulated within the auspices of the Community Law.
7. Finally, the EAC Council of Ministers has recently approved the ‘EAC Customs Valuation Manual’ – a document which provides guidelines on how to implement and uniformly interpret EAC Customs valuation provisions within the Community and therefore helps overcome challenges in this respect.
Challenges facing the East African Community
Despite the progress made throughout the years, some challenges remain noteworthy when it comes to the implementation of the EAC Customs Union and other objectives.
1. Multiple commitments e.g. the united republic of Tanzania as a member of SADC, Kenya to IGAD and other multiple engagement.
2. Protectionist tendencies which have been justified using rules of origin-related arguments. Moreover, efforts in sensitization/awareness-raising seem to have been too limited to allow relevant stakeholders realize the opportunities they could draw from EAC integration.
3. Tariff Barriers. Similar efforts have been undertaken at the SADC and COMESA levels, where national and regional structures to monitor and curb NTBs “Non-Tariff Barriers” are in place; and have attracted a genuine cooperation between the public and private sectors.
4. The EAC is yet to have a Single Customs Territory despite having the protocol in place. Other notable challenges include challenges emanating from Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and Export Processing Zones (EPZs) regimes as well as those of Investments Promotion Authorities.
5. Political instability. The member states such as Burundi, South Sudan, Uganda are experiencing internal misunderstanding between citizens. This affects the general wellbeing of the East African Community.
6. A threat of terrorism. The community is struggling to get rid of the Al Shabab terror campaigns which affects the community’s peace and security. Example, Kenya’s security which is being affected by the Somali Al Shabab group.
7. Refugees crisis. This region has produced a big number of refugees. This also threatens the wellbeing of the East African community. Example, the Southern Sudan refugees in northern Uganda, the Burundi refugees in Tanzania, Somali refugees at Daadab Kenya.
8. Nationalism. Each member state is concentrating much on its internal matters than the community’s affairs. Example the land issue.
9. lack of common currency
Note. The position of The EAC Chairperson is based on one-year period per each president of the member states. The current General Secretary in Dr. Liberat Mfumukeko of Burundi. He has replaced Mr Richard Sezibera who has been the EAC Secretary since April 2011.
