To make EAC strong, give the Secretariat teeth

So there are these proposals; which means that immediately the Protocol is signed, we will look into the institutional arrangement, which may include a review of EAC’s decision-making structure.

There is no timeline to achieve political federation. Why then do we still need to be fast tracking this aspect of the integration process?

First, the timeline was seen by our Heads of State to be part of the problem. People were saying; ‘Oh, 2013 is too close’. The people just looked at 2013, rather than the objectivity of political federation.

That undermined the ethos and purpose of fast tracking. So the Heads of State have said, ‘No, let’s not talk about the timeline. Let’s talk about making the people understand why we are talking about political federation.

And let the whole idea of when come not from the top but from down, from the people themselves. We are more comfortable with this kind of timeline.

On the position of DSG for Political Federation, there is a misunderstanding on what you mean by “the movement towards political federation.” It’s not episodic; it’s a process.

So there is that whole sensitisation, preparing the people; and you know political federation needs certain habits, cultures of governance, human rights, rule of law and constitutionalism.
You need to have all these things — the best practices — in place before you go into political federation.

There is a lot of work to be done as we go through this transition. That is what the DSG Political Federation is supposed to do, including this Conference on Peace and Security, which is really EAC Deputy Secretary General Beatrice Kiraso’s baby.

Popularising the process will present certain challenges. Some people will pose arguments such as, “If you have a problem in Migingo, how can you have a political federation?”

We are talking about peace and security within the EAC. How do we deal with instability that spills over from neighbouring countries?

That’s a good point. This whole concept of security cannot be homogenised; it cannot be just an EAC thing as we have geographical interfaces with the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, and Southern Sudan.

We cannot say this peace and security is just for us.

We must work out a concept and institutional framework that looks into peace and security beyond our own immediate region.

If Rwanda and Burundi had not joined the EAC, we would be talking about them, too.

Some of these unstable areas may have to be brought on board so that we stabilise them in the interest of peace and security.