There must be many sceptics who say it will succeed no better than the first which ended in acrimony in 1977 due to the huge differences in attitude between Idi Amin, Julius Nyerere and Jomo Kenyatta.
And indeed there are already indications that the agreement is limited to certain types of cross border travel. An academic in Dar es Salaam University told us it is for skilled people only. It is not for shoe shiners and mamanbogas (street hawkers of vegetables) and a reporter on the crossing between Kenya and Uganda on day one saw little that was new.
Still, aim for the sky It is something to celebrate that people keep trying to reach out and build bridges with neighbouring countries. No doubt, selfish motives are mixed up with noble ones and there will be critics who say they are just building structures that will further enrich the rich. Such judgements have often been made of the European Union. There is truth in these words but human motivation is never so pure that it is beyond reproach and there is always a mixture of self interest. But the benefits can be great when people stop for a moment and try to see things from the point of view of their neighbour, which is basically what economic, social and ultimately political union is all about.
For a start war becomes inconceivable and that is no small thing. We have just entered a century, a millennium, when war anywhere on the continent of Europe is simply impossible. You cannot have a war where the people on both sides of a possible conflict cannot be manipulated as is the case in Europe today. So war, such as erupted in Amins time is extremely unlikely if there is an economic union.
Secondly, in such a union you cede some control of decisions on trade, standards, finance and so forth and that makes countries accountable to each other. This is something our purveyors of the shibboleth of national sovereignty, which in practice no longer exists anywhere in the world, will be uncomfortable with. In renouncing some elements of independence you gain greater benefits from interdependence.
And thirdly and most importantly, in reaching out in this way to ones neighbours you open the door to unknown opportunities in an attitude of trust. You do what Abraham did, you set out without knowing where you are going (Hebrews 11:8) and look where he reached!
Yes, the news of a second attempt at an East African Economic Union may have hardly caught our attention but it is wonderful news and something to celebrate.
Post published in: Opinions