Ms Beatrice Kiraso, the EAC deputy secretary general for political federation, said complacency among the citizens towards their governments’ actions or their reluctance to participate in governance processes contributes to bad governance.

The East African Community treaty must be renegotiated by member states to create the anticipated political federation, two East African dons have said. According to the dons, the integration of the EA states ended with the Common Market, which came into force on July 1, 2010.

Prof. Palamagamba Kabudi, the Dean of the Faculty of Law at Dar es Salaam University, and Dr Adams Oloo, a senior lecturer at the University of Nairobi, said the member states must renegotiate and agree to the type of political federation they want, given that there are various forms.

The scholars were yesterday speaking at the third EAC Annual Conference on Good Governance where they also cautioned against rushing the political federation lest people dismiss it as an elite-driven project. “The political federation was an afterthought. It was not part of the initial negotiations on the Treaty. So the states should negotiate it afresh to know what kind of political federation they want, “ said Dr Aloo.

Prof. Kabudi said: “The present treaty ends with the Common Market. You need a treaty for the monetary, union, you will need a new treaty for the political federation.” President Museveni has been the most prominent advocate of the political federation, whose leadership many believe would rotate among the sitting presidents.

However, Tanzania’s President, Jakaya Kikwete has said in the past that the presidency of the EA federation would be open to all East Africans of sound mind and responsibilities. Prof. Kabudi said just as for the political federation, there is need for a new treaty for the monetary union because they are matters of international, not constitutional law.

“The reason the states were engaging in constitutional law is because they are still living under the spell of the 1960 EAC federation, which will not happen again,” said Prof. Kabudi. He said to create one sovereign federal state from these that have existed for about 50 years would ‘create a mess, which we cannot afford’.

Kenya Constitution
Dr Oloo said the new Constitution of Kenya poses a challenge especially where the Constitution is at variance with the EAC Treaty. “Kenya has two choices: to negotiate the ‘offending’ EAC agreements in order to make it agreeable to the Constitution of Kenya or to negotiate with the partner states in order to amend the EAC Treaty,” Dr Oloo said.

Ms Beatrice Kiraso, the EAC deputy secretary general for political federation, said complacency among the citizens towards their governments’ actions or their reluctance to participate in governance processes contributes to bad governance. “Good governance is a two-way street. The government must provide its citizens with freedoms, but the people must keep the government accountable through their elected representatives,” Ms Kiraso said.

By Nelson Wesonga, Daily Monitor