This archive report was first published on 7 December 2019.
As we reflect on the East African Community's (EAC) revival, it is essential to understand the historical context that led to its collapse in 1978. The EAC was formed in 1967, with the ambitious goal of regional economic integration, surpassing the European Economic Community at that time.
At its peak, the EAC had transformed the East African Common Services Organisation into a formidable engine of regional economic integration, running common railways and harbours services, postal and telecommunications services, East African Airways, and many other services. Traveling from Nairobi to Kampala overnight by train was a reality, without the nuisance of border crossing.
However, the folly of politicians and the failure to focus on the bigger picture led to the community's demise. The misguided gospel of import substitution industrialisation drove economic development in each country, but ultimately resulted in economic stagnation in the region by the beginning of the 1980s.
The Bretton Woods institutions intervened with the infamous 'Accelerated Development in sub-Saharan Africa: An Agenda for Action,' which included the discredited Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs). The state was ordered to stop meddling in the economy, and the private sector was left to drive growth. This led to economic decay, hand-in-hand with political decay, and indicators of economic growth in East Africa in the 1990s were dismal.
But the people did not sit pretty. Popular pressures, including in the mass media, compelled Presidents Daniel arap Moi of Kenya, Benjamin Mkapa of Tanzania, and Yoweri Museveni of Uganda to revive the EAC in 1998. Since then, three more countries have joined: Rwanda, Burundi, and South Sudan.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo has set its eyes on joining the EAC, which would bring significant potential, including natural resources, opportunities for investments, outreach into Francophone Africa, and a formidable home market. If I were the bureaucrats in Arusha, I would work to spread a red carpet for DR Congo's entry into the Community yesterday rather than today.
With the potential for hydroelectric power in the DR Congo, our energy problems, including electricity-powered locomotives, could be sorted out. The original EAC had taken the blue economy seriously, recognizing that railways alone were not enough to integrate East Africa transport-wise.
Today, we need a clear time-action plan to rally the energies of our people to pursue a common cause and achieve the East African Community we all yearn for. If Singapore did it, why can't we?
Prof Peter Anyang' Nyong'o is the governor of Kisumu County in Kenya.
