This archive report was first published on 17 August 2019.
On August 19, Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni is expected to launch the East African Community's constitution-making process in Kampala, a move that will set the pace for the attainment of the bloc's fourth and last integration pillar – political federation.
However, the region has decided to start with a political confederation, a transitional model adopted by the EAC in May 2017. The Confederation Constitution requires EAC partner states to agree on areas to coordinate centrally, including trade and foreign policy, while other areas will be conducted by respective national governments.
According to the EAC, each partner state nominated two constitution drafting experts and a draftsman, making a team of 18. The constitution experts met for the first time in Arusha in September 2018, without their counterparts from Tanzania, to agree on terms of reference and a roadmap.
Tanzania's failure to name its experts to the committee has raised questions about the country's commitment to the integration agenda. The Treaty Establishing the EAC stipulates that the committee should not proceed without participation of one partner state.
