not realizing that the purpose of politics
is to achieve economic ends. People
do not live on ideology they live on
economic activity. a skeptical and wary view of Kenya
who to them epitomize all the ills of a
capitalist economy of what they refer to
as a dog eat dog society.
Unfortunately as we have sadly come
to realize, you cannot divorce politics
from economics and the collapse of the
East African economic bloc was due to
our inability to harmonize competing
political ideologies to achieve a
common economic end. This is hardly an ideal combination of
an economic bloc but the individual
countries have realized that they need to
cooperate. What they need to overcome
is the political hurdles since they cannot
escape the geographical proximity.
Kenya chose the democratic route but
failed to dismantle the colonial political
infrastructure that was based mainly on
a divide and rule strategy that pitted
tribes against one another and created
a lopsided national development
blueprint.
Fifty years on we have still not managed
to shake off that terrible colonial legacy
and create a true democratic state. We
still define ourselves and our parties
by tribe and engage in politics of
entitlement rather than inclusion, the
economy suffers.
What we are struggling to implement
has become clear and necessary to
Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan
who have opted to join the East African
Community, despite some language
barriers, as their survival and growth as
entities is tied to their neighbors.
From this core the community
influences the Democratic Republic of
Congo, Malawi, Zambia, Somalia and
Ethiopia and that is where the numbers
start to become magical if only we can
tame the divergent political systems in
the bloc.
Uganda chose a hybrid democratic
system that was supposed to retain the
kingdoms and create a British type of
democracy. This system created many
centers of political power and was
inherently unstable and contentious. We have missed fantastic opportunities
to create wealth and synergy by acting
in competition rather than cooperation
which is the real logic of forming an
economic bloc. We have also failed
to act in unison to solve regional
challenges.
It wasn’t long before this volatile
situation exploded and Uganda became
a country of coups and internal strife.
Uganda today is still under de facto
martial rule as the army is the real
guarantor of their democratic model of
government. Individual countries in the Community
are building railways from the same
suppliers but have failed to negotiate
as a block to get favorable terms and
prices. They have even failed to create
synergistic connectivity to extend
within the region.
Tanzania was the most adventurous
and chose a socialist ideology on the
outset which had to be later revised as it
failed mainly due to the collapse of the
communist ideology which had as its
main sponsors Russia and China. Individual countries are building roads,
again from the same suppliers but have
failed to have a regional master plan
that connects the countries and creates
the necessary conditions for trans-
border movement and commerce.
Tanzania’s reluctant adoption of
democracy has seen it make great
economic strides but has retained Individual countries have tiny airlines
that have the potential of being a strong
regional airline that has enough muscle
‘‘ We have
missed fantastic
opportunities to
create wealth and
synergy by acting in
competition rather
than cooperation
which is the real
logic of forming
an economic bloc.
We have also failed
to act in unison
to solve regional
challenges.’’
to create a huge fleet and be a major
player in the global aviation industry to
the benefit of the region as a whole.
Building the necessary infrastructure
for economic take off is an expensive
undertaking which will bear long-term
benefits to all partners in the region as
it reduces the cost of doing business and
accessibility to markets.
Economic integration in East Africa
is not a nice to have proposition but a
must have proposition if we are to move
from the periphery of global economic
activity and take our rightful position as
a major player. The private sector needs
to lobby the politicians to unlock the
massive potential.
Politics has far too much impact on
economics to be left to politicians and
their shenanigans. To fix our economies
we need to first fix our politicians.
Let us not allow the political narrow-
mindedness of some leaders to deter the
region from the economic enhancing
integration we need!