Analyzing East African Community Development From Member State’ Domestic Politics Perspective

This study had two key research objectives which the researcher sought to answer.These were;to analyze the effects of political leaders and regime types on cooperation in EAC and secondly to analyze the effects of Domestic constituencies politics and opinion on East African Community development,Secondary data using document analysis was the main source of data while Primary data was collected using an online survey questionnaire submitted to respondents in the five member states of Kenya,Uganda,Tanzania,Rwanda and Burundi aimed only at understanding public opinion of the people.The researcher found out that the different leadership types found within the states in the EAC have been seen to influence the decisions that respective states take with regards to cooperation and defection.The EAC operations have been seen to thrive on operations of the presidents’ summit,and the leaders of the member states.Whenever there is a problem between two leaders,this problem spills over to the presidents’ summit’and the EAC in general.Meetings of the summit have been postponed at the request of presidents because of misunderstanding between them.Mutual suspicion between the Presidents of Uganda and Rwanda led Rwanda to close the border with Uganda and cancel plans for the construction of her railway line linking Kenya,Uganda,Rwanda and Burundi,which is an EAC project.Burundi leader has refused to attend some meetings of the EAC President’s Summit accusing Rwanda of working to destabilize Burundi.Kenya and Tanzania on the other hand,the leadership styles have not been seen to negatively affect regional integration.Regular elections have led to different Presidents leading these countries,who lead based on solid foreign policies of their respective countries that have persisted over long periods regardless of which president is in power.Kenya’s push for deeper integration within the EAC has been in existence since the new EAC was created,from the era of retired President Moi,then later to President Kibaki and now President Kenyatta.Regardless of which president was leading Kenya,this policy has remained.On the other hand,Tanzania relationship with the EAC has remained the same across the different presidents.Their policy towards integration within the EAC is gradual,incremental integration.This has not changed regardless of the president in power.This can be attributed to the regime types that these presidents lead.Uganda,Rwanda and Burundi are classified as electoral authoritarianisms,while Kenya and Tanzania are hybrid transitional democracies.These different types of regimes have affected development of regional integration differently in East Africa.Kenya and Tanzania have pursued diplomatic channels in engaging at the EAC or where differences on national interests have emerged.The structural characteristic of these two comparatively democratic states makes it produce leaders who understand negotiation,compromise and diplomacy.They have tried to resolve any differences arising from interactions through diplomatic channels and negotiations.On the other hand,where there is a problem between non-democratic members of the EAC,these countries were quick to use non-diplomatic channels to escalate tensions.Military personnel were seen to influence Uganda and Rwanda interactions at the EAC more than career diplomats.This has negatively affected EAC integration.Secondly,the researcher sought to know the effects of various domestic.interest groups politics and opinion on East African Community development.It was found that internationally,domestic audiences have been proven to affect how their states behave at the international level.Within the East African region,the regime types available,plus the disorganized nature of interest groups have been seen to lead to less influence on the foreign policy of their countries.With an exception of Kenya and Tanzania which have highly organized interest group associations,other countries do not have these groups.Kenya Association of Manufacturers and Confederation of Tanzania Industries are organized domestic interest groups which have influenced their governments’ decisions regarding EAC.In Uganda,Kampala City Traders Association has been seen to be ineffective,while no recognized groups were found for Rwanda and Burundi.Overall public opinion and support from the residents on EAC integration was found to be high.This shows goodwill for deeper integration from the common people.Leaders can work to harness this goodwill and to pursue deeper integration within the region.However,whether this public opinion is put into consideration in development of regional integration is another issue altogether.