East African Federation

Proposed East African Federation in the 1960s

In the early 1960s, around the time Kenya, Tanganyika, Uganda and Zanzibar were gaining independence from the United Kingdom, the political leaders of the four nations had become interested in forming a federation. Julius Nyerere even offered in 1960 to delay the imminent independence of Tanganyika (due in 1961) in order for all of the East African territories to achieve independence together as a federation.

In June 1963, Kenyan Prime Minister Jomo Kenyatta met with the Tanganyikan President Julius Nyerere and Ugandan President Milton Obote in Nairobi. The trio discussed the possibility of merging their three nations (plus Zanzibar) into a single East African Federation, declaring that this would be accomplished by the end of the year.[7] Subsequently, discussions on the planning for such a union were initiated.

Privately, Kenyatta was more reluctant regarding the arrangement and as 1964 came around the federation had not come to pass.[8] In May 1964, Kenyatta rejected a back-benchers resolution calling for speedier federation.[8] He publicly stated that talk of a federation had always been a ruse to hasten the pace of Kenyan independence from Britain, but Nyerere denied that this was true.[8] Around the same time, Obote came out against an East African Federation in favour of pan-African unity, partly because of domestic political pressures with the semi-autonomous kingdom of Buganda being opposed to being in an East African federation as part of Uganda but rather as a unit in its own right.

By late 1964, the prospects for a wider East African federation had died, although Tanganyika and Zanzibar did form a union in April 1964, eventually becoming Tanzania.

The federation of the current East African Community into a single state has been discussed, with early estimates of the founding of the federation in 2013.[9] In 2010, the EAC launched its own common market for goods, labour and capital within the region, with the goal of a common currency by 2013 and full political federation in 2015.[10]

South Sudan was approved for membership of the EAC in March 2016, and acceded in September 2016. It would become the 6th member of the East African Federation.[11] It is unclear how the potential accession of South Sudan to the EAC may affect the timeline for federation or the scope thereof, but given the infrastructure problems that persist in the fledgling country since President Salva Kiir Mayardit cut off oil commerce with Sudan, the South has decided to invest in constructing pipelines that circumvent Sudan's, which it had been using until that time. These new pipelines would extend through Ethiopia to the ports of Djibouti, as well as to the southeast to the coast of Kenya.[12] These collaborations could increase the likelihood of South Sudan joining the East African Federation at some point.[13]

On 14 October 2013, the leaders of Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda and Burundi began a meeting in Kampala intending to draft a constitution for the East African Federation,[14] but in December 2014, efforts for a full political federation had been pushed back to 2016 or later.[15]

In February 2016, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni described the union as “the number one target that we should aim at”.[16] In November 2016, the EAC Council of Ministers agreed to create an East African Confederation before the East African Federation is eventually created.[17]

In September 2018, a committee of regional constitutional experts and drafters was formed to begin the process of drafting a regional constitution.[4] The committee met for a five-day consultation meeting in Burundi from 14–18 January 2020, where it announced that a confederation constitution would be drafted by the end of 2021. Following approval of the draft by the six EAC states after a year of consultations, the East African Confederation would be established by 2023. The road map towards a full political federation will be discussed in detail at future meetings.[18][5]