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The East African Community (EAC) is a customs union in East Africa, consisting of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. It was originally founded in 1967, but was disbanded in 1977. In January 2001 at a ceremony held in the Tanzanian city of Arusha, which is also its headquarters, the EAC was revived. The new EAC treaty paved the way for an economic and, ultimately, political union of the three countries. A further treaty signed in March 2004 set up a customs union, which commenced on 1 January 2005. Under the terms of the treaty, Kenya, the richest of the three countries, will pay duty on its goods entering Uganda and Tanzania until 2010. A common system of tariffs will apply to other countries supplying the three countries with goods. EAC is one of the pillars of the African Economic Community.
Members Note: Burundi and Rwanda are set to join the EAC in 2006. The East African region covers an area of 1.8 million square kilometres with a combined population of about 100 million (July 2005 est.) and has vast natural resources. The three countries are relatively prosperous compared to their war-torn neighbours such as Congo and southern Sudan. History Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda have had a history of co-operation dating back to the early 20th century, incuding the Customs Union between Kenya and Uganda in 1917, which the then Tanganyika joined in 1927, the East African High Commission (1948-1961), the East African Common Services Organisation (1961-1967) and the East African Community (1967-1977). In 1977, the East African Community collapsed after ten years, amid disagreements caused by dictatorship under Idi Amin in Uganda, socialism in Tanzania, and capitalism in Kenya, and the three member states lost over sixty years of co-operation and the benefits of economies of scale. Each of the former member states had to embark, at great expense and at lower efficiency, upon the establishment of services and industries that had previously been provided at the Community level. The EAC made such political and economic sense that it was inevitable that its revival would be touted once the political climate in the region stabilised. It was no surprise, therefore, when Presidents Moi of Kenya, Mwinyi of Tanzania, and Museveni of Uganda signed the Treaty for East African Co-operation in Arusha, Tanzania, on November 30 1993, and established a Tri-partite Commission for Co-operation. A process of re-integration was embarked on, involving tripartite programmes of co-operation in political, economic, social and cultural fields, research and technology, defence, security, legal and judicial affairs. The East African Community was finally revived on 30 November 1999, when the Treaty for its re-establishment was signed. It came into force on 7 July 2000, twenty-three years after the total collapse of the defunct erstwhile Community and its organs. The reinvigorated East African Community (EAC) articulates itself as based on the principles of good governance deemed to include adherence to democratic principles, the rule of law, accountability, transparency, social justice, equal opportunities, gender equality and most pertinently in this context, “recognition, promotion and protection of human and peoples’ rights in accordance with the provisions of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR). Future plans There are plans to introduce a common currency, the East African shilling, by 2009. East African Court of Justice The East African Court of Justice is the judicial arm of the Community. East African Legislative Assembly The East African Legislative Assembly is the legislative arm of the Community. Comparison with other Regional blocs See also | ||||||||
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