PANAPRESS
Panafrican News Agency
East African political Federation takes shape
Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) - East Africa’s search for a political Federation has taken shape following an outline of its structure hammered during a high-level expert meeting and which proposes the adoption of the Tanzanian model (Tanganyika/Zanzibar) headed by a single President ruling for a year.
The East African Community (EAC), which hosted experts drawn from the five states—Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania—to a discussion on the proposed structure of the Federation, said the experts agreed fears of losing sovereignty should be considered in the constitution of the Federation.
“The retreat considered the Zero Draft Model of the structure and Plan of Action of the Political Federation developed by the Secretariat in line with the directive of the 10th Extraordinary Summit held in April 2012,” the EAC said in a statement obtained onSaturday.
The Presidency of the Federation would be held on a rotational basis once every year until a permanent structure is determined, but the EAC also made it clear each of the five states would lose sovereign rights.
Discussions on a final structure would consider whether the Federation would be led by a single President or whether its leadership would be entrusted on a Presidential Council, bringing together the Heads of State of the five countries to discuss the relationship of the federal members.
Experts among them, former Kenyan attorney-general Amos Wako, former EAC Secretary-General Juma Mwapachu, held a two-day retreat in the Tanzanian resort of Mwanza, to discuss the Federation, which was first proposed in 2003 by the EAC leaders meeting in Nairobi.
“The experts agreed that the rationale of the model structure was the springboard of the entire instrument and should justify why the EAC had opted for a Federation,” the EAC said.
They attributed the collapse of the former EAC in 1977 on the lack of a strong body to supervise its operations.
They said such an institution was required to create a strong foundation for the organisation and the management of the Federation.
“The Tanzania/Zanzibar experience should help the EAC to avoid pitfalls and address some of the challenges that it is facing at the moment. This information will shape the EAC processes as it moved towards a Political Federation,” the EAC added.
Talks are continuing to identify areas that would require the involvement of a federal government. The experts warned those matters should not affect the autonomy of the federal members.
However, a Federation Treaty must be negotiated in line with the Vienna Convention and deposited with the UN and the African Union. They also decided that issues likely to create confusion, such as the roles of other bodies of the Federation should be left out to avoid doubts.
“The experts agreed that sovereignty was a dicey issue and should be taken positively through championing pooling of sovereignty as opposed to ceding sovereignty,” the EAC said.
The EAC Secretariat said it was clear that sovereignty would be lost amongst the members of the Federation.
“There was need to consider whether there were success stories of federations where constituent states retained sovereignty and legal personality,” it said.
-0- PANA AO/MA 3Nov2012
The East African Community (EAC), which hosted experts drawn from the five states—Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania—to a discussion on the proposed structure of the Federation, said the experts agreed fears of losing sovereignty should be considered in the constitution of the Federation.
“The retreat considered the Zero Draft Model of the structure and Plan of Action of the Political Federation developed by the Secretariat in line with the directive of the 10th Extraordinary Summit held in April 2012,” the EAC said in a statement obtained onSaturday.
The Presidency of the Federation would be held on a rotational basis once every year until a permanent structure is determined, but the EAC also made it clear each of the five states would lose sovereign rights.
Discussions on a final structure would consider whether the Federation would be led by a single President or whether its leadership would be entrusted on a Presidential Council, bringing together the Heads of State of the five countries to discuss the relationship of the federal members.
Experts among them, former Kenyan attorney-general Amos Wako, former EAC Secretary-General Juma Mwapachu, held a two-day retreat in the Tanzanian resort of Mwanza, to discuss the Federation, which was first proposed in 2003 by the EAC leaders meeting in Nairobi.
“The experts agreed that the rationale of the model structure was the springboard of the entire instrument and should justify why the EAC had opted for a Federation,” the EAC said.
They attributed the collapse of the former EAC in 1977 on the lack of a strong body to supervise its operations.
They said such an institution was required to create a strong foundation for the organisation and the management of the Federation.
“The Tanzania/Zanzibar experience should help the EAC to avoid pitfalls and address some of the challenges that it is facing at the moment. This information will shape the EAC processes as it moved towards a Political Federation,” the EAC added.
Talks are continuing to identify areas that would require the involvement of a federal government. The experts warned those matters should not affect the autonomy of the federal members.
However, a Federation Treaty must be negotiated in line with the Vienna Convention and deposited with the UN and the African Union. They also decided that issues likely to create confusion, such as the roles of other bodies of the Federation should be left out to avoid doubts.
“The experts agreed that sovereignty was a dicey issue and should be taken positively through championing pooling of sovereignty as opposed to ceding sovereignty,” the EAC said.
The EAC Secretariat said it was clear that sovereignty would be lost amongst the members of the Federation.
“There was need to consider whether there were success stories of federations where constituent states retained sovereignty and legal personality,” it said.
-0- PANA AO/MA 3Nov2012
