“Fifty years ago, I set off from my hilly countryside home of Othaya, boarded a train in Nairobi, and headed to Kampala to establish my new scholarly home at Makerere University. Transversing through the central Kenya countryside by bus, hearing the train engines roaring through the vast Rift Valley, then briefly anchoring on the shores of Lake Victoria, before finally arriving in Kampala, the sounds of East Africa began ringing loud in my mind. I must say that this exposure to East Africa, during my early days, converted me into an East African. The socialization I got through interaction of people from Uganda and Tanzania inculcated in me the true spirit of East Africa. It was a spirit that was put to the test in my latter days, when I served in government in the 1960s and 1970s. As Kenya’s Finance Minister, I remained fully committed to regional integration, in the knowledge that we were better off enjoying the economies of large-scale production. The East African Railways and Harbours, Airlines and a host of other shared services, indeed contributed to the economic strengthening of the region. By then we were ahead in our thinking and achieved, nearly twenty years earlier, what many regional blocs are today achieving. However, some politicians in the region were to have their way and narrow interests led to the break-up of the East African region. The break up was costly and led to our individual countries looking inwards in areas that an outward looking approach had led to efficient service delivery…Now as President of Kenya, I have the opportunity, again to draw on my strengths to ensure fulfillment of the dreams I had while I traversed through the region as a student…Regional integration is made a myth by our detractors but we shall overcome any doubts, and we will make it easy for our people to cross borders to trade and socialize. We have began taking the message of East Africa Cooperation, out of high level summit meetings of heads of state, to the boardrooms of our private and public corporations, the streets of East African urban centers and homesteads in our rural households. This is what we want to translate into, so that East African cooperation is not seen as high level political rhetoric but a movement that represents opportunity for our people. I am a firm believer that that regional integration in the contemporary world is not a choice but a necessary strategy for rapid and sustainable development.” President Mwai Kibaki’s viewpoint on East Africa.(The full version was published in the influential London magazine, “THE BANKER”)

1999 saw the phoenix that is the East African Community (EAC) flying again from the ashes, where it had been trashed by simplistic and egoistic reasons in 1977. The need to rush and integrate in a fast globalising world saw the three eastern African countries reengineering themselves.
While the EAC has been quick in all the other issues notably trade, political and infrastructural angles, much emphasis has not been laid on the environmental component, which still lags behind.
The East African region combined bespokes of a population of some 100 million people. Critically examined under the environmental microscope, these areas share a rich and rare yet common biodiversity and ecosystem, not to mention the similarity in both linguistic and cultural traits. Indeed in the recent past calls have been made by leading figures in the region to inculcate the environment in the region’s development agenda.

As recent as March this year, the East African Business Summit (EABS) an umbrella organization that brings together the region’s blue chip companies’ CEOs called on the East Africa’s political leadership to move fast and integrate the environment on EAC’s statutes as a matter of priority.
Andrew Enniskillen, the Coordinator of the East African Business Summit (EABS) is more candid: “We are dealing with a major crisis and it is important for East African countries to harmonize their environmental laws.”

Indeed these sentiments arguably shed light on how much is shared in East Africa. In fact even before the political-economic and social aspects were considered for integration, the environment in the region is the lead case for harmonization, despite the lack of legal backing in effect.
Picture these: Mount Elgon ecosystem is shared between Kenya and Uganda; the Amboseli-Loliondo, Tsavo West National Park-Mkomazi-Umba Game Reserve are shared between Kenya and Tanzania; Maasai Mara-Serengeti Ecosystem between Kenya and Tanzania; the Eastern Arc Mountain Forests of the Southern End of the Kenya Tanzania border; the Kilimanjaro ecosystem; the Mizingo-Sango Bay Swamp forest in Uganda and Tanzania; the lake Victoria ecosystem is shared by all and the Indian Ocean one is shared between Kenya and Tanzania. All these are examples of the shared natural resources within the three EAC countries. Not only do we share these resources, they also face similar threats.

That aside, Article 112 of the Treaty establishing the East African Community implores the partner states to cooperate in all issues pertaining to the environment and natural resources management. Under the treaty each member state is expected to protect, preserve and enhance the quality of the environment; ensure sustainable utilization of all natural resources like wetlands, forests, lakes, mountains and other aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems; develop special environmental strategies to manage fragile ecosystems, terrestrial and marine resources and prevent harmful transboundary impacts; integrate environmental management and conservation measures in all their development agendas and institute programmes that will encourage public awareness and education; harmonize their policies, regulations and adopt common environmental standards and exchange information.

Though the treaty is in place, progress has been slow for these well-meaning objectives to be actualized. While the common folk on the ground do espouse integration in their daily interactions with each other across the borders, legal instruments and governmental bureaucrats have been pulling their feet towards achieving these targets.

An initiative aimed at streamlining this facet kicked off in earnest in 1995, when the Royal Dutch Government funded a UNEP/UNDP Joint Project on Environmental Law and Institutions in Africa, with special emphasis on East African Sub-regional Project. According to Charles Okidi, who was the Task Manager, “The underlying presupposition is that the three countries share similar historical and legal heritage and that the physical and historical situation in East Africa offered an opportunity to initiate and encourage dealing with environmental issues according to problem-sheds. The historical facts are that there is a history of regional cooperation among the countries from colonial times and there is shared legal tradition which derives from common law origins.” Under this endeavour it was further recognized that; “Environmental standards in environmental management are an important tool which ensures the right to a clean and healthy environment for all people living on this earth. The countries of East Africa are undergoing a high level of socio-economic transformation whose trends has an impact on the environment in terms of threatening the carrying capacity of the natural resources available. Use of environmental standards by these countries will therefore ensure that while the countries develop discharges and emissions do not adversely and significantly harm the environment and natural resources. The environmental standards, when applied in this sub-region will ensure efficiency, and competitiveness.”

At a workshop held at the Nairobi-based international research center, the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) way back in 1999 titled “Integrated Modeling, Assessment and Management of Regional Wildlife-Livestock Ecosystems in East Africa” the need for a centralized transboundary ecosystems management was reaffirmed: “The Maasai-Mara Reserve, Serengeti National Park, Ngorongoro Conservation Area, and other administrative areas comprise a single Greater Serengeti-Mara Ecosystem, defined by the movements of large herds of migratory wildebeest, gazelle, and zebra. While the Maasai-Mara is in Kenya, the other management units are in Tanzania. These politically distinct units are ecologically and socio-economically connected by the movements of humans, wildlife, plants, information, water, airborne materials, goods and money.
“The significance of transboundary interactions is exemplified by potential secondary effects of land-use changes surrounding the Maasai-Mara. Increasingly, arable lands are being converted to cultivation, while the pastoral herds put increasing demands on the remaining grazing lands, which are also important grazing ranges for the migratory wildlife herds in their annual cycle of movement between Tanzania and Kenya. Conversely, increased land preemption and poaching on the western boundary of the Serengeti may increase migratory wildlife grazing pressures on the Mara. Resulting decrease in wildlife could have serious economic consequences for both countries, and changes in wildlife distributions could disrupt the ecosystem as a whole.

“ The migratory wildlife do not recognize international boundaries, and their fate is influenced by the independent policies of two different countries. Pastoralists and their livestock do not necessarily recognize international borders either. Movements of livestock across the border area may be vital for pastoral welfare, including regular movements among seasonal grazing ranges, and contingency movements to different grazing ranges during local or regional droughts. Animals may also be moved across the boundary to sell in markets in Southern Kenya, or to replenish Tanzanian herds with animals purchased in Kenyan markets. At present there is very little information on such movements. Wildlife and livestock movements across the boundary present a significant challenge in managing animal disease. Infectious and parasitic disease agents of wild animals within the Serengeti-Mara ecosystem not only affect the mortality, natality and well-being of wildlife, but also can be transmitted between domestic animals and humans in the adjacent environment. Unregulated transboundary movements of livestock and wildlife means that lack of disease control in one country can have consequences for the other. Diseases of wildlife and domestic animals in the Serengeti-Mara ecosystem not only affect animal populations, but their occurrence and control also have economic, social and political implications. Clearly, the Greater Serengeti Ecosystem, inclusive of the Serengeti National Park and Maasai-Mara Reserve, must be managed as a whole, and there is need for coordinated management by authorities on the Kenyan and Tanzanian sides of the border. There is a danger of the independent authorities working at cross-purposes, with detrimental effects to both parties. Decisions made on one side of the border affect ecosystem components on the other side and the negative consequences may feed-back to where the original decisions were made. Thus, it is the benefit of decision makers on both sides to recognize these transboundary interactions and develop a coordinated plan for natural resource management and food security development.”

The need to manage such ecosystems under a single management plan cannot be overemphasized. Dr Sam Kanyamibwa, the head of the WWF’s Eastern African Regional Office (EARPO) adds his voice: “Regional cooperation is important because natural systems don’t respect national boundaries. For example, savannah, freshwater, arid lands, oceans and forests ecosystems. All these are shared by the respective countries. Thus arise the need for collaboration. This aspect has made us to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the East African Community (EAC). My hope is that in the future an ecosystem like the Mara-Serengeti will be managed under one transboundary management plan. It is my dream that the Mara will become a transboundary conservation area. Cooperation is necessary and there is need to work together for the maximum utility and benefit from our natural systems.”

To this end, the East African Community (EAC) in collaboration with the African Centre for Technological Studies (ACTS), have teamed together to formulate a “process to prepare regional environmental assessment guidelines, principals and procedures to regulate, guide and control the use and exploitation of all natural resources and concomitant activities in shared ecosystems in the three East African countries.”

The result of this collaboration has culminated into a comprehensive and all-encompassing 116-page document “Report of a Study to Propose Environmental Assessment Guidelines for Shared Ecosystems in East Africa” drafted by Prof. John Okedi, Prof. Raphael Mwalyosi, Dr. Albert Mumma and Asheline Appleton. This report, which is a timely step in the right direction, is still under discussion amongst stakeholders across the region. While this study specifically deals with Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) and Strategic Environment Assessment (SEA), the greater concern is actually making environmental laws in the region in tandem with the changed realities and also uniform for the entire region, not to mention the fact that the said laws should benefit the people of East Africa.

Abdi Zeila, an Arid Lands expert at the International Centre on Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF), gives his views on the ACTS/EAC transboundary audit: “My comments on the transboundary ecosystems audit, is that we need first of all to have recognition and understanding of some underlying facts; Understanding that poverty, underdevelopment and debt burden are the root causes of problems and are serious threats to peace, stability and the environment in East Africa, including food and economic security. Eradication of poverty is the basic pre-condition for sustainable development of the region. One reason for the continued deterioration of the marine resource base in East Africa and here I am specifically referring to Lake Victoria which is an important resource for the three countries, is the lack of mechanisms to provide adequate coordination of all planned development and sustainable use of marine and coastal resources. Transnational policies would be in my view, the panacea for the type of poverty seen in Nyando and Kisumu; of people wallowing in poverty amidst plenty.” Says Zeila. Indeed this is the great challenge for the East African Community.

Former Permanent Secretary in the Office of the President in charge of Policy Analysis and Research, Prof William Ochieng has some telling remarks for our politicians: “Apart from the customs union, we still have to fight for a common market, a common currency and, ultimately, a federal union. For the last ten years, only former President Moi bothered with the campaign for the Community. In the last one year, only President Kibaki has been talking on our behalf. What happened to the Kenyan politicians? Do they share our hopes and need for a federated East Africa? Why is East Africa never mentioned in DP, LDP or Ford-Kenya conventions? Why are our politicians busy fighting for tribal interests, instead of the wider East African political and economic space? Just imagine, when we form the Federal East African state, parties such as Ford-Kenya, Ford-People and LDP will be meaningless, because we will be thinking in East African terms…What we today call the Kenya government will be regarded as a local authority. It is unfortunate that our leaders have not even encouraged the formation of East African Youth groups, or East African Women’s groups to popularize the East African idea. How will the East African currency look like? …Why are our leaders so parochial, so localized and so uninspiring? There can be no doubt that a Federal East African state will attract better investments, will be a giant and richer African state with a decisive voice in pan-African and international for a. Here at home, leaders are bitching over the drafting of a new Kenyan constitution, but in fact we should be thinking of a future East African constitution”
Ochieng’s words denote the problems bedeviling the EAC. Overemphasis in local politics and shortsightedness are what undermines full and maximum utilization of the resources dotting the region. At the moment, the continual political supremacy battles within the ruling Narc administration in Kenya, Uganda’s civil war with Joseph Kony’s Lords Resistance Army (LRA) and Tanzania’s Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) and Civic United Front’s (CUF) squabbles are all instruments that stand in the way for full realization of the East African fruits.

In the recent cabinet reshuffle in Kenya, President Kibaki, created the Ministry of East Africa and Regional Cooperation, appointing, John Koech as the new minister. Considering the President’s views on East Africa, the forming of this ministry and the appointment are not a surprise. It is a reflection of the President’s wishes for a truly East African Federation. The question, is how soon will bureaucracy give way to service delivery?

While the EAC and its consulting partner ACTS, deserve commendation for their efforts a lot more still needs to be done. The EACs fruits are not just ‘an elitist Presidents only club’ affair. And neither is the EAC an inter-governmental, inter-ministerial, top of the cream hotel discussion topic for government consultants; the EAC and all that it stands for belongs to all the common folk of the region. The real beneficiary is the common man; sadly bureaucracy and narrow interests are still obstacles in the path to tap on the benefits of integration. Political unwillingness killed the first EAC.

And now it is only political will, which will see to it that the dream comes of the sustainable utilization and conservation of EACs transboundary ecosystems for East Africans comes to fruition.
Once the politicians put their act together, and East Africans interests surpass petty parties squabbles, the rest will be easy.