Political Stability
The EAC Partner States have had regular free and fair elections that have been endorsed by international observers.
In 1977, the Treaty for East African Co-operation establishing the East African Community was officially dissolved, and the main reasons that contributed to the collapse of the East African Community were:
- lack of strong political will,
- lack of strong participation of the private sector and civil society in the co-operation activities,
- the continued disproportionate sharing of benefits of the Community among the Partner States due to their differences in their levels of development, and
- lack of adequate policies to address the situation then.
These issues were addressed in the EAC Treaty establishing the East African Community (1999). For instance, Article 5(1) of the Treaty provides that the objectives of the Community shall be to develop policies and programmes aimed at widening and deepening co-operation among the Partner States in political, economic, social and cultural fields, research and technology, defence, security and legal and judicial affairs, for their mutual benefit. Article 5(2) of the EAC Treaty provides that in pursuance of the provisions of Article 5(1) of the EAC Treaty, the Partner States undertake to establish among themselves and in accordance with the provisions of this Treaty, a Customs Union, a Common Market, subsequently a Monetary Union and ultimately a Political Federation in order to strengthen and regulate the industrial, commercial, infrastructural, cultural, social, political and other relations of the Partner States to the end that there shall be accelerated, harmonious and balanced development and sustained expansion of economic activities, the benefit of which shall be equitably shared. To this extent, the EAC Partner States established a Customs Union in 2005, a Common Market in 2010, a Monetary Union in 2013, and with an ultimate objective to establish a Political Federation.
The Political Federation is the ultimate goal of the EAC Regional Integration. It is provided for under Article 5(2) of the Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community and is founded on three pillars: common foreign and security policies, good governance, and effective implementation of the prior stages of Regional Integration. On 20th May, 2017 the EAC Heads of State adopted the Political Confederation as a transitional model of the East African Political Federation. The political confederation and later political federation is aimed at furthering political stability in the EAC.