International Politics

A few years ago, at John F. Kennedy (JFK) airport when traveling was normal, I handed over my East African Passport to the immigration officer for clearance. The officer looked at me and asked, “What happened to your dark blue-coloured Kenyan passport?” And since then, I have been wondering.

With the formation of the East African Community - EAC in 2002, one of the key tenets was to have a ‘unified’ passport that would ease movement within the EAC countries, a semblance of what happens within the member states of the European Union. This is consistent with the fact that human beings are interrelated; therefore countries within a particular region would be interdependent. This raises a few questions in regards to the opportunities and challenges that come with a unified passport.

The first question lies in the timing: Were the citizens in the East African Community ready for a unified passport? There is a subset of questions under this query itself. For instance, since the passport is already here, who gains more from the possession of that passport? Is there anyone who loses? Is the possession of the passport advantageous to a particular individual from either of the East African Community countries? Is it a burden to others? .

The second question lies in the relationships. Are the citizens of the EAC community ‘friends’? In other words, is there cohesion among the citizens, or are the relations marred with suspicion? Take the recent diplomatic rows between Kenya and Tanzania that largely remain unresolved, or the border issues between Uganda and Rwanda, and or the Rwanda Congo relations or the lingering effects of the 1990’s genocide that devastated Rwanda and Burundi.

The third questions lie in identity, and to some extent, individual sovereignty. What is the significance of the passport to the individual?‘On the issue of identification, does a citizen of a particular country identify themselves as of that country or through the passport? How does one experience the sense of belonging; is it through the passport or citizenship and domicile? Take the case of a Kenyan with an EAC passport abroad, ‘do they feel and think they are Kenyan or East African? Perhaps an EAC passport implies a conceptual loss of identity. A case in point is a Kenyan who may want to use the passport for various purposes that would suit different situations. One would present oneself as Kenyan whilst another as an EAC citizen, depending on what works best at the time.

Many of these questions continue to surround the EAC integration project. For example should the EAC members have another passport i.e. a vaccination certificate to travel? Would this invalidate the unified passport? The motivation for regional integration is varied among EAC member states.For instance, Kenya may want to leverage its bilateral and multilateral trade relations while Rwanda may be looking for Anglophones to trade with. Does thus having the EAC passport remove or add to travelling privileges? Will, for example, Kenyans feel bandwagon when they wanted to proudly feel Kenyan?Or perhaps a Burundian may enjoy the privilege more given that state’s landlocked status. Perhaps students may find the task of processing travelling documents a little easier than before.Will there be a time when, for example, a Tanzanian will not want to be associated with a Kenyan?

Regardless, different people stand to benefit by being an EAC passport holder. Firstly, it is valid for travel within the EAC countries, with an entitlement of a multiple entry stay. This is unlike the previous National Passports that were stamped at any entry or exit point with a single entry. The stay for the EAC is six months as opposed to 3 months with a National passport. This is good for the EAC citizens in general.

Furthermore, businessmen and entrepreneurs can move freely in the member states and plan their trips to stay longer.Thirdly, the other group of people to benefit a lot are the regional tourists. This is because of the distribution of prime attractions regionally; Mara and the Serengeti, Lake Victoria and the Source of the Nile, Zanzibar islands etc.

Moreover, students stand to greatly benefit too because the EAC passport’s resultant ease of travel reduces the bureaucracy of tedious paperwork, long processes and documentation before a student is cleared for study. In Kenya for example, the private universities have many international students, majorly from the EAC countries. Lastly, there is a positive psychological effect. The possession of this passport creates the sense that the region is cohesive and is working together for prosperity – a sense of community.

"For instance, Kenya may want to leverage its bilateral and multilateral trade relations while Rwanda may be looking for Anglophones to trade with"