EAC heads of state (seated) Paul Kagame of Rwanda, Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania, Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, Pierre Nkurunziza of Burundi and Mwai Kibaki of Kenya. There is no provision to punish member states for failing to ratify the protocols on time. Photo/FILE
The commitment of the East African Community member states to the integration process has been called into question following a revelation that they have yet to ratify a number of protocols long after they were concluded.
They have now been given three months to ratify all the outstanding protocols and deposit the instruments of ratification with the EAC Secretariat.
A meeting of the Community Council of Ministers held in Arusha recently found that Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi have all failed to ratify the protocols, which should have been signed by June 30. Some of the protocols were concluded nearly two years ago.
Uganda, however, has managed to ratify the Protocol on the Establishment of the East African Civil Aviation Safety and Security Oversight Agency.
The meeting, chaired by Rwanda’s Minister for East African Community Affairs, Monique Mukuruliza, asked the partner states to start observing the timelines set for ratification of the signed protocols.
The Council noted that the five member states had failed to ratify five protocols by the June 30 deadline.
One of those is the Protocol on Environment and Natural Resources, which was concluded in April 2006. The Protocol on the Establishment of the East African Science and Technology Commission, which was concluded in April last year, has also not been ratified.
The other protocols are on the establishment of the East African Civil Aviation Safety and Security Oversight Agency, the establishment of the East African Kiswahili Commission and the establishment of the East African Health Research Commission, all of which were concluded on April 18, 2007.
But there was no move to punish member states for failing to ratify the protocols on time. Instead, the Council simply “urged” partner states to ratify all the outstanding protocols and deposit the instruments of ratification with the Secretariat by December 31.
The Community Treaty has no provision to compel a member state to implement decisions passed at whatever level — the Summit comprising all heads of state, the Council, or the Secretariat.
The implementation of decisions depends on the goodwill of a member state, a situation that has seen agitation by some quarters for fast-tracking of the EAC political federation that will give it a political muscle with the election of a common president.
During the Arusha meeting, the Council also directed the Secretariat to file a request for an advisory opinion on the application of the principle of variable geometry in the East African Court of Justice on October 31.
The Treaty provides that one of the operational principles of the Community shall be “the principle of variable geometry which allows for progression in co-operation among groups within the Community for wider integration schemes in various fields and at different speeds.”
The provision suggests flexibility in the progression of integration activities, projects and programmes by some of the partner states as opposed to all the partner states simultaneously.
However, this interpretation is contestable on the basis of the fundamental requirement, under the Treaty and relevant annexes, for consensus as a basis for decision-making by the Summit of Heads of State and the Council of Ministers.
The other issues discussed at the meeting included progress in the implementation of the sectoral projects and programmes in the political and social areas, Customs and trade, finance and administration, and the activities of the various organs and institutions of the Community.
