(From left to right) Zanzibar second Vice Resident Ambassador Seif Iddi;
Rwanda Prime Minister Pierre Habumuremyi; Tanzania’s President Jakaya
Kikwete; Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta; Uganda’s President Yoweri
Museveni; Burundi First Vice President Burundi Prosper Bazombanza unveil
the East African Court of Justice guide book
By The EastAfrican
The East African Community has earned praise as
the most progressive of all the five economic blocs on the continent,
but unfortunately member states don’t seem to get it right when
reforming institutions of governance.
Right now, lawmaking in the region is at a
crossroads. We have a situation where incumbents not only manipulate the
views of the public on the type of constitution they want, but go the
whole hog to ensure self-preservation.
Except for Tanzania, that is in the process of
overhauling its constitution, and Kenya, which is now struggling to
implement an ambitious document, the rest of the East African partner
states — Uganda and Burundi — have to deal with situations where
incumbents change or attempt to change the constitution to cling to
power beyond their designated terms or do away with term limits
altogether.
For a start, Kenya’s Constitution, promulgated
four years ago, was a product of compromise and accommodation of
different interests.
Some experts have argued that it was actually a
ceasefire agreement after the 2007 post-election violence and that
Kenyans voted for a new Constitution out of fear that failure to produce
one as per the Agenda Item 4 negotiated by Kofi Annan could have
resulted in war.
Now, Kenyans have a situation where they are being blackmailed by politicians who amend the Constitution to suit their whims.
Members of Parliament, Governors and County
Assembly Representatives are now taking advantage of some lacunae in the
negotiated document to advance their selfish interests.
Tanzania has a chance of learning from the
mistakes of the other partner states by focusing on pertinent issues
like the state of the Union, the land tenure system and the structure of
governance.
In Uganda, President Yoweri Museveni in 2005
coerced parliament into removing the term limit on the basis that having
restored law and order in the country after constant political
instability for 24 years since the Pearl of Africa gained Independence
in 1962, the country would degenerate into chaos without him.
Now, Western Youth MP Gerald Karuhanga is
agitating for a return of the term limit but Uganda watchers are saying
that it is a futile effort given Museveni’s firm grip on the Ugandan
psyche.
The neighbouring Rwanda could be forced to amend
its Constitution should President Paul Kagame — having been credited for
resurrecting the country after the 1994 genocide — decide to seek a
third term.
In Burundi, President Pierre Nkurunziza’s fairly
obvious intention to change the Constitution to run for a third term
after his constitutional term ends in 2015 is raising prospects of a
return to civil war.
In 2005, President Nkurunziza inspired hope among
Burundians fatigued by 13 years of civil war. But now, his desire to go
against the Arusha Agreement that restored peace in Burundi could well
taint his legacy.
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