
SECTION A (10 Marks)
COMPREHENSION AND SUMMARY
1. Read the passage below carefully and then answer the questions that follow.
The East African Community (AEC) is an intergovernmental organisation that is made up of five
member countries: Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi. These countries cover an
area of about 1.8 million square kilometres and, by 2005, the community had a population of
about 100 million people.
Cooperation in East Africa started many years ago. Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda in particular
have cooperation since the early 20
th
Century. For example, there was the Customs Union
between Uganda and Kenya in 1917, whereas, Tanganyika joined in 1927.
The East African Community itself has had a long history too. It was originally founded in 1967,
but it collapsed in 1977, partly because of disagreements in the political philosophies of the three
countries: dictatorship under Idi Amin in Uganda, socialism in Tanzania and capitalism in Kenya.
Later on, president Mwinyi of Tanzania, Moi of Kenya and Museveni of Uganda signed the
Treaty for East African Cooperation in Arusha, Tanzania on 30
th
November 1993. They
established a Tripartite Cooperation. The Cooperation embraced many areas including political,
social, cultural, research and technology, defence, security, legal and financial affairs. On 30
th
November 1999, a Treaty for the re-establishment of the East African Community was signed and
it came into force on 7
th
July 2000. Burundi and Rwanda joined the East African Community in
2007.
There are governance structures that serve the East African Community. The East African Court
of Justice is the judicial arm of the Community. The Court oversees the interpretation and
application of the 1999 Treaty that established the EAC. The legislation arm of the Community is
the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA). The Assembly has 27 members who are elected
by the National Assemblies of member countries. One of the functions of EALA is to debate and
approve the budget of the Community. Since its inauguration, the EALA has had several sittings
in Arusha, Kampala and Nairobi.
Though faced with numerous challenges, the EAC has had some achievements and has outlined
some future plans. One key achievement is the introduction of the East African passport was
launched on 1
st
April 1999. This passport was introduced in order to make border crossing for
East Africans easier. It is available at the headquarters of the respective immigration departments
in Dar es salaam, nairobi and Kampala. Among EAC’s future plans is the introduction of a
monetary union with a common currency, a common market and a political union.