Unity Is Far Beyond the Horizon

It is interesting to see the Arusha East African legislatures taking themselves seriously about the East African Union. Whether they are emotionally rather than intellectually committed to that realisation is another matter. Or are they just going through the motion for the relatively lucrative paychecks? One also wonders whether the citizens of the various nations are as excited about the prospects of a union. What does it mean to them? Is it a life changer they can visualize?

One motivation of an East African government comes partly from a nostalgia of what used to be the East African Community. In its early heydays it was quite elegant, and could have been ahead of the EU. The EAC fell apart—thanks to Idi Amin and the ravenous Kenyatta’s Kenya. Have things changed such that strains and upheavals in one member state would not set the dream structure crumbling?

Another impetus to the East African government is the success of the European Union. This is a false hope, not unlike the fall of the Berlin Wall that initiated democratic movements across the globe but seems to bypass Africa. The EU did not come about out of thin air. The Europeans pulverized one another in primitive orgasmic violence for centuries. Exhaustion and cultural evolutions finally allowed them to see the follies of their ways, hence the trust and unity that spawned the union.

In the East African milieu there is the turn-coat Marxist Museveni who has become a champion of market economy. Market, market, market. All our problems will be solved and we will reach nirvana if only we could have more markets. Forget that trade beyond selling lagalagala (pancakes) can only thrive on trusts. There is no chasm between the Jaluos and Kikuyus of Kenya, and there is no potential powder keg. The Tutsis and Hutus in Rwanda and Burundi are love-struck with one another even if Kagame, the Tutsi dictator is gone. In Uganda Mr. Museveni peddles his get-rich scheme and the water is clear and all will be well even as he guns down his own citizens and is paranoid about the opposition, especially the daring Dr. Besigye.

What we have in East Africa are serious risks, not uncertainty that accompanies any progressive free-enterprise economy. In complex systems, which include the economy, the parts can self-organize randomly into an entity amidst uncertainty—the so-called “invisible hand.” However, there must be a stable global structure and, in the case of nations coming together, that structure comprises common generally accepted standards of behavior. Do these countries slated for the EA union have any common standards they subscribe to? If not, then let us go slow. Jointly building a fast train system traversing the prospective member states could be a good start to fire the imagination of the masses. What about an East African football league championed by the leaders?