The quest for a regional security framework for the East African Community

Abstract

The treaty forming the second East African Community was signed on 30th November 1999. The second attempt is now in its seventh year without showing significant results. In this thesis we investigate the impact of the absence of a regional security framework on the pace and depth of the implementation of the treaty. We establish that political, economic and social issues impede evolution of a regional security framework. Issues of political leadership, sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence feature prominently as major obstacles to achieving common perception and conceptualisation of common threats and hence the reluctance to regional security framework. Security belongs fmnly in the political domain, and therefore political strong-will is crucial in the establishment of a regional security framework. Regional

Security framework is necessary because it possess a pacifying effect between states. It creates common expectations amongst the political and security elites and in this manner reduces the likelihood of violent conflicts between the states. At the same time it injects some pennanence in the relations between states. Without a regional security framework any developments achieved in the economic field can easily be back-rolled or ignored in the event of a political divergence. The East Africa Community member states face common security challenges. These include endemic poverty amongst the masses, political instability, domestic insecurity, societal weakness and weak structural and institutional frameworks. The treaty for East African Community lacks mechanisms for dealing with three types of security concerns, those emanating from outside the bloc; those from internal domestic conflicts threatening the legitimate government and those crisis generated by the behaviour of a member state government. Presently, the power of the East African Community to address these challenges is

greatly undermined by its structure and institutions. This thesis also provides a strong argument not only in support of creation of regional security framework but also proffers a possible structure.