Open letter to President Museveni: Let’s hold referenda about East African Federation
Your Excellency, please accept my profound congratulations on your recent inauguration as President of Uganda and as the current Chairman of the East African Community. If I were to give you an award, besides being a vanguard for peace and stability in Uganda and the Great Lakes region, I would recognise you for being the […] The post Open letter to President Museveni: Let’s hold referenda about East African Federation appeared first on The Observer.
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Your Excellency, please accept my profound congratulations on your recent inauguration as President of Uganda and as the current Chairman of the East African Community.
If I were to give you an award, besides being a vanguard for peace and stability in Uganda and the Great Lakes region, I would recognise you for being the chief promoter of value addition for African commodities/raw materials, foremost campaigner for wealth creation (Entandikwa, Bonna bagaggawale, Emyooga and Parish Development Model) and lead
Advocate for African trade promotion (on a global scale) instead of aid, and champion for the economic and political federation of the East African community. I toast to your numerous accomplishments, which leave no doubt that you are not only a visionary leader but a true statesman. For purposes of this article, however, allow me to focus the spotlight on the East
African community
On July 7th 2000, the East African Community was revived, and 26 years later, the community has grown in membership from the original 3 (Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania) to 8 members, including (Rwanda, Burundi, DRC, South Sudan & Somalia).
Unfortunately as the community grows in membership, 26 years down the road, there is no monetary union, and a political federation looks like a pipe dream. Despite 26 years of inspirational speeches, grand summits, joint communiques and declarations made by the East African leaders, there is such a huge contrast between the passionate speeches and any bold steps on the ground to actualise the dream.
Are leaders merely paying lip service to the grand dream of political federation? Can’t they see the numerous benefits for all member States and citizens, or is it that, despite the high-sounding public speeches, privately, preserving individual sovereignty is more important than seeing the bigger picture?
Surely, we have all heard about the concerns and fears of the Tanzanians about their land, but has the Tanzanian government ever held a referendum to ask Tanzanians whether or not they want to politically federate with the rest of the East African countries and they said no?
Have Kenya, Uganda and the rest of the member states ever carried out referenda to ask their people? If the answer is no, perhaps it’s high time such referenda are high on the East African agenda, ahead of any other business, borrowing a leaf from Brexit, where Britain asked the British whether they wanted to exit from the European community.
Instead of this chronic foot-dragging, I suggest that all East African states should hold referenda to ask their people if they want their countries to form the East African political federation. If East Africans vote yes, there is no stumbling block to political federation. What will remain will be the legal framework. That could be a prudent option.
The other option would be for two or three willing countries (a coalition of the willing states) to declare a monetary union and political federation, giving time for other countries to join later on.
All member countries do not have to consent on the same day, and at the same time. We must be realistic and pragmatic to get this thing rolling. Over to you Nyakubahwa Perezida.
The writer is a lawyer
The post Open letter to President Museveni: Let’s hold referenda about East African Federation appeared first on The Observer.
