Political – legal structural constraints to political integration in Africa: a case study of east African community
Abstract
This study seeks to investigate structural political and legal constraints that undermine
political integration in the East African Community. The study is guided by neofunctionalism
theory. The centre-piece of neo-functionalism is the argument that the
spillover functions that are performed by governments in one area result in cooperation in
other areas leading eventually to integration.
The findings of the study indicate that the success of the political integration of the East
African Community will be achieved through political goodwill, adherence to good
governance, and market driven economic policies with the support of a strong private
sector. This requires sustainable institutional development, the development of an
efficient and effective compensatory mechanism and putting in place an effective system
of raising resources for the community.
The study establishes that among the current crop of leaders of the region there is the
political goodwill to establish the East African political federation. However, it will take
more than political goodwill to bring the federation to fruition, as conditions in the region
currently do not augur well for the project. Also, political leaders have not carried the
people along with them on the integration journey.
The study notes that for the region to fully attain its stated political goal, Partner States
are required to develop and implement a common foreign, and security policies as
enshrined in the EAC Treaty. It may be noted that already the East African Community
has established two institutions, which also serves as building blocks to a Political
Federation and these are; the East African Court of Justice; and the East African
Legislative Assembly.
The study concludes that the fear of losing national sovereignty and ability to make
independent national decisions poses a serious challenge to the noble political integrative
goal. Similarly lack of popular ownership by the populace undermines the East African
political spirit.
Citation
A Research Project Submitted In Partial Fulfillment Of The Requirement For The Awards Of Masters Of Art Degree In International Studies, Institute Of Diplomacy And International Studies, University Of NairobiPublisher
University of Nairobi Institute of Diplomacy and International Studies