East African Community

1.Historical context

The East African Community (EAC) is an intergovernmental organization composed of six countries in
the African Great Lakes region in eastern Africa: Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, and
Uganda. The organization was founded in 1967, collapsed in 1977, and was revived on 7 July 2000.
In the past, Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda have enjoyed a long history of co-operation under successive
regional integration arrangements.
These arrangements have included:

 the Customs Union between Kenya and Uganda in 1917, which the then Tanganyika later joined
in 1927;
 the East African High Commission (1948-1961);
 the East African Common Services Organization (1961-1967);
 the East African Community (1967-1977) and
 the East African Co-operation (1993-2000).
Inter-territorial co-operation between the Kenya Colony, the Uganda Protectorate, and the Tanganyika
Territory was formalized in 1948 by the EAHC. This provided a customs union, a common external tariff,
currency, and postage. It also dealt with common services in transport and communications, research, and
education. Following independence, these integrated activities were reconstituted and the EAHC was
replaced by the EACSO, which many observers thought would lead to a political federation between the
three territories. The new organization ran into difficulties because of the lack of joint planning and fiscal
policy, separate political policies, and Kenya's dominant economic position.
In 1977, the EAC collapsed. The causes of the collapse included demands by Kenya for more seats than
Uganda and Tanzania in decision-making organs, disagreements with Ugandan dictator Idi Amin who
demanded that Tanzania as a member state of the EAC should not harbor forces fighting to topple the
government of another member state, and the disparate economic systems of socialism in Tanzania and
capitalism in Kenya. The three member states lost over sixty years of co-operation and the benefits of
economies of scale.
Presidents Daniel Arap Moi of Kenya, Ali Hassan Mwinyi of Tanzania, and Yoweri Kaguta Museveni of
Uganda signed the Treaty for East African Co-operation in Kampala on 30 November 1993 and
established a Tri-partite Commission for Co-operation. A process of re-integration was embarked on
involving tripartite programmes of co-operation in political, economic, social and cultural fields, research
and technology, defense, security, and legal and judicial affairs.

The EAC was revived on 30 November 1999, when the treaty for its re-establishment was signed. It came
into force on 7 July 2000, 23 years after the collapse of the previous community and its organs. A
customs union was signed in March 2004, which commenced on 1 January 2005.
2. Partner states

The EAC is made up of 6 Partner states:

 Kenya- joined in 2000

 Tanzania- joined in 2000
 Uganda- joined in 2000
 Burundi- joined in 2007
 Rwanda- joined in 2007
 South Sudan- joined in 2016
All of the Partner states prescribe to the principles and values outlined in the Treaty for Establishment of
the East African Community. Leaders of the Partner States - typically Heads of State or Government -
give general directions and impetus to the development and achievement of Community objectives
through an apex EAC Organ known as The Summit.
Every year, a Summit is a meeting of Heads of State or Government of EAC Partner States that is held to
set key priorities at the highest, regional political level and discuss business submitted to it by the Council
of Ministers.

3. Achievements

The EAC Customs Union Protocol provides for elimination of internal tariffs and a Common external
tariff structure of 0% for raw materials, 10% for intermediate goods and 25% for finished goods. Under
the Customs Union, the following have been attained:

 Removal of Non-Tariff Barriers (prolonged clearance procedures, delays at the ports of entry/exit,
delays at weighbridges and numerous road blocks; delays in ferrying of cargo by transit vehicles)
through national and regional committees to identify and monitor their elimination and EAC
Elimination of NTBs Act, 2017 was assented to by all EAC Partner States’ Heads of State in
April, 2017 and is inn the process of being operationalized.
 Establishment of the EAC Single Customs Territory to facilitate faster clearance and movement
of cargo from the port of entry to the destination. Benefits of the SCT include: all intra-regional
traded goods between Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania are cleared under SCT scheme,
turnaround time of trucks from Mombasa to Kampala has reduced from 18 days to 4 days and to
Kigali has reduced from 21 days to 6 days, a single declaration is made electronically, processed
and released by the authorities from the country of destination prior to loading of goods and
release from the Port, reducing documentation currently used to release goods up to destination
by 80%, hence simplifying the administrative burden.
 Tax Harmonization- Model Tax Treaty was developed, adopted and is under implementation. It
will guide negotiations of Tax treaties with the 3rd parties. An EAC framework on harmonization
of domestic taxes has been finalized and is currently being used as an input to the on—going
process of developing EAX Tax Policy on harmonization of domestic taxes.
 One Stop Border Posts aimed at facilitating cross-border movements through reduction of the
time taken in clearance procedures. Along the Kenya borders, six border posts were selected for
this concept and four are already operational.
The Protocol for establishment of the EAC Common Market was signed in November, 2009 and came
into force on 1st July, 2010 upon ratification by the Partner States.
This Pillar provides for free movement of goods, persons, labor, services and capital, and rights of
establishment and residence. The following have been achieved in terms of the free movement of persons
and labor: Reciprocal opening of border post for 24 hours, harmonized entry/ exit forms, harmonization
of procedures for issuance of work permits, student pass issued for free, Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda
have waived work permit fees, joint promotion of Tourism.
Also, in terms of military training: the partner states have been offering vacancies at each other’s military
training institutions. The function also involves the exchange of students and directing staff at their
training colleges. Harmonization of Education Standards, and mutual recognition of agreements
(Engineers, Accountants, Architects, and Veterinarians). In addition to this, the EAC has contributed to
the construction of numerous roads across the Partner States.

4. Challenges

These are some of the challenges faced by the EAC in the future regarding its goal of putting the
integration process back on track; they have been highlighted at a conference held by EAC leaders in
2019.
1. Non-compliance with signed Protocols- some partner states are yet to harmonize their
national laws, policies and systems hence rendering the protocols ineffective. There also exist
other barriers to integration such as tariff and non-tariff barriers at Customs and Immigration
desks in some Partner States.
2. Lack of citizens’ awareness- a majority of East African Region citizens does not understand
regional integration and the East African Community integration agenda. Others are skeptical
of the initiatives hence low. According to surveys conducted by the bloc, a large section of
citizens within the region appreciate the benefits of integration but remain skeptical of the
EAC agenda. A majority of those interviewed knew little about the body’s organs or mandate
as well as deliverables.
3. Financial liquidity issues- over the recent years, complaints by the secretariat on inability to
conduct their affairs due to lack of finances has become common. For instance, as at January
30th 2019, contributions by Partner States towards the EAC Main Budget stood at 45 per
cent, several activities have been postponed due to lack of funds, thus there is a need to
identify alternative sustainable financing mechanisms for the community.
4. Long decision-making processes- long, tedious and somewhat unnecessary decision-making
process.
5. Key stakeholders not involved in decision making- stakeholders such as the business
community felt that there is need for inclusion in decision making to decide on priority areas.
6. The EAC Staff rules, salaries and regulations were also said to be outdated as they were last
reviewed in the year 2006 and had not been updated to take into context on changes and
developments since.
All in all, the EAC is an organization that has contributed to an intensive process of development within
the Partner States as can be seen by the numerous achievements that it has led to since it has been set up.
Furthermore, based on its success to this date, the EAC has very ambitions plans to grow even further and
move from a customs union to a common market. Although this has already been set into motion, it has
encountered several challenges and it will probably take some time for it to reach its desired levels.