EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY EAST AFRICAN GOVERNORS' CONFERENCE OLLOWING a recommendation of a Parliamentary Commission which visited East Africa in 1924 a Conference of Governors of the British East It was decided that a permanent Conference Secretariat should be established at Nairobi and that Conferences should be held when necessary. Subsequently the Joint Select Committee on Closer Union in East Africa recommended that the machinery of the Governors' Conference should be increasingly used for ensuring continuous and effective co-operation and co-ordination in all matters of common interest to the East African territories. The Conference was placed in permanent session, to be convened whenever required, and it was decided that there should be annual meetings of the Governors of Kenya, Tanganyika and Uganda, attended, if desired, by the Governors of Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland and by the British Resident, Zanzibar. EAST AFRICA HIGH COMMISSION The East Africa High Commission replaced the East African Governors' Conference on 1st January 1948. The High Commission, consisting of the Governors of Kenya, Tanganyika and Uganda, was charged with the administration of certain services common to the three territories, e.g. the East African Railways and Harbour Administration, the East African Directorate of Civil Aviation, the East African Posts and Telegraphs Department, the East African Meteorological Department, etc. The East African Central Legislative Assembly was established in 1947, and in 1956 its membership was increased from 24 to 34. The High Commission had power to legislate, with the advice and consent of the Assembly, in respect of inter-territorial common services, and on any matter concerned with the peace, order and good government of the Territories. The establishment of the High Commission involved no change in the constitution or administrative responsibilities of the Governments of the three territories, which remained responsible for basic services such as administration, police, health, education, agriculture, forestry, labour, and housing public works. EAST AFRICAN COMMON SERVICES ORGANISATION At the Constitutional Conference in Dar es Salaam in March 1961 the Tanganyika Government expressed the wish to continue participation, after independence, in the common services provided by the East Africa High Commission, in a manner compatible with Tanganyika's independence. Arrangements to this end were worked out in talks, held in London in June 1961 and attended by delegates from Britain, Tanganyika, Kenya and Uganda, and of the East Africa High Commission, and by an observer from Zanzibar. It was agreed that, in the interests of all the Territories concerned, common services should continue to be provided on an East African basis, and that this should be secured, when Tanganyika became independent, by setting up a new organisation called the East African Common Services Organisation. Under the new organisation which came into being on 9th December 1961 Tanganyika, Uganda and Kenya participated as equal partners. Responsibility for the policy of the new Organisation was vested in the East African Common Services Authority which consisted of the Prime Minister of Tanganyika, now the President of Tanzania, the Prime Minister, now the President, of Uganda, and the Prime Minister, now the President, of Kenya. A Treaty for East African Co-operation was signed by the Presidents of the United Republic of Tanzania, the Sovereign State of Uganda and the Republic of Kenya on 6th June 1967. The Treaty came into force on 1st December 1967. By this Treaty the Governments of Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya established among themselves an East African Community and, as an integral part of such Community, an East African Common Market. The institutions of the Community are as follows: (i) The East African Authority. The Authority consists of the Presidents of Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya who in turn comprise the principal executive authority of the Community. (ii) The East African Legislative Assembly. This is the Community's legislative body which has the power to pass Bills which require the assent of the Heads of State of Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya. The Treaty provides that members of the Assembly shall be: (a) the three East African Ministers; (b) the three Deputy East African Ministers; (c) twenty-seven appointed members; and (d) the Chairman of the Assembly, the Secretary-General and the Counsel to the Community. (iii) The East African Ministers. Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya each nominate a person for appointment by the Authority as an East African Minister. It is the Ministers' responsibility to assist the Authority in the exercise of its executive functions to the extent required by and subject to the directions of the Authority, and to advise the Authority generally in respect of the affairs of the Community. There are also three Deputy Ministers, similarly nominated and appointed. (iv) The Common Market Council. The responsibilities of the Council are inter alia to ensure the functioning and development of the Common Market in accordance with the Treaty and to keep its operations under review. The Council's responsibilities are set out fully in Article 30 of the Treaty. (v) The Common Market Tribunal. A judicial body established to ensure the observance of law and of the terms of the Treaty in the interpretation and application of so much of the Treaty as appertains to the Common Market. (vi) The Communications Council. The duties and powers of the Council are set out in Annex XIII to the Treaty. In addition the Council provides a forum for consultation generally on communication matters. (vii) The Finance Council. The Council's functions are to consult in common on the major financial affairs of the Community, and to consider and approve major financial decisions relating to the services administered by the Community, including their estimates of expenditure and related loan and investment programmes. The Council's functions in respect of the Community do not include the East African Development Bank. (viii) The Economic Consultative and Planning Council. Its functions are to assist the national planning of the Partner States by consultative means, and to advise the Authority upon the long-term planning of the common services. (ix) The Research and Social Council. Its functions are to assist, by consultative means, in the co-ordination of the policies of each of the Partner States and the Community regarding research and social matters. (x) The Court of Appeal for East Africa. The Court of Appeal for Eastern Africa established by the East African Common Services Organisation Agreements 1961 to 1966 is to continue in being under the name of the Court of Appeal for East Africa and is deemed to have been established by the Treaty, notwithstanding the abrogation of those Agreements by the Treaty. (xi) The East African Industrial Court. The Industrial Court will exercise the powers referred to in Article 84 of the Treaty in accordance with the principles laid down from time to time by the East African Authority. (xii) The East African Tax Board. This is an advisory body whose membership and functions are set out in Article 88 of the Treaty. (xiii) The East African Development Bank. The Bank was established under Article 21 of the Treaty, its main objectives being to provide financial and technical assistance to promote the industrial development of the Partner States, and to give priority to industrial development in the relatively less industrially developed Partner States. The Bank's Charter is set out in Annex VI to the Treaty. Services to be Administered by the Community 1. The secretariat of the Community, including services relating to the Common Market and the Chambers of the Counsel to the Community. 2. The East African Directorate of Civil Aviation. 3. The East African Meteorological Department. 4. The East African Customs and Excise Department. 5. The East African Income Tax Department. 6. The East African Industrial Council. 7. The East African Literature Bureau. 8. The Auditor-General's Department. 9. The East African Community Service Commission. 10. The East African Legislative Assembly. 11. The East African Agriculture and Forestry Research Organisation. 12. The East African Freshwater Fisheries Research Organisation. 13. The East African Marine Fisheries Research Organisation. 14. The East African Trypanosomiasis Research Organisation. 15. The East African Veterinary Research Organisation. 16. The East African Leprosy Research Centre. 17. The East African Institute of Malaria and Vector-Borne Diseases. 18. The East African Institute for Medical Research. 19. The East African Virus Research Organisation. 20. The East African Industrial Research Organisation. 21. The East African Tropical Pesticides Research Institute. 22. The East African Tuberculosis Investigation Centre. 23. Services arising from the operations of the East African Currency Board. |