Turn down Khartoum request for East Africa Membership
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By Isaiah Abraham
September 27, 2011 — The Republic of the Sudan has formally written to
East African Community (EAC) leadership in Arusha for membership. The
Secretariat or the Chairperson of the Bloc, the current President of
the Republic of Burundi has yet to officially respond to Khartoum. The
EAC was formed in 1967, but collapsed in 1977. It was revived in 2001
however. Rwanda and Burundi had since joined the community in 2007.
The bloc has a population of over 130 million people, and has Gross
Domestic Product of 75 US$ billion. The mission of the bloc is to
deepen and widen political, economic, social and cultural integration
for the people of East Africa. The leaders are slowly moving towards
political integration, as economic side is shaping up.
South Sudan after it became a state was expected to join the bloc but
dithered or procrastinate for reasons that are both real and
imaginary. There have been debate towards that end anyway, and Juba
hasn’t publicly made its position clear. But on the side of the EAC,
there seem to be good will to admit South Sudan. East African
Parliament has hinted that it could admit South Sudan with no much
effort. Leaders of the Region have all wish that the new republic of
South Sudan join them as soon as possible.
But from nowhere Khartoum jumped and leapfrogged Juba something so
surprising to many. The decision by Sudan to join EAC has complicated
things for the East African leadership as a whole but particularly
Juba. If Juba applies now, it will put the Arusha team in an awkward
position of balancing between the two requests. For instance, if
Khartoum application is rejected and that of the South Sudan is
accepted, Arusha will have to justify it more convincingly.
The reality though is that Khartoum request must be rejected on the
basis that it has virtually nothing to ‘deepen’ or ‘widen’ with the
rest of the East African Community. Khartoum is distinct and has
nothing in common with the people of EAC. Juba on the other hand is
preferable because of its political and social affinity with the
people of East Africa. Khartoum is culturally an Arabized and
Islamized one. Khartoum furthermore has no borders with the rest of
the East African Community. In the future if South Sudan is admitted,
the South will act as a conduit for movements of goods and people for
the people of the Republic of the Sudan. For now, they should look for
market elsewhere not in the East Africa.
There must be reasons why Khartoum want to join EAC bloc at this point
in time, something they didn’t do for the past fifty or so years after
independence in 1956. We shall casually examine a few in the next
clauses. We all know that the futile economic war wage by Khartoum
against South Sudan has retrospectively affected Khartoum more than
the South. Khartoum economic status is in an unstoppable dive.
Analysts have already predicted sharp economic deterioration in few
years to come unless something is done now. For the past ten years,
Khartoum has enjoy enough income through oil, and with the South
packing, Khartoum is desperate to find enough money to keep support
the huge army and its security organs. There is war everywhere, and
this activity needs money. Khartoum thought by going East African, it
liquidity problem would be addressed.
little did they know that their application to join EAC, has raised
more eyebrows and questions than answers. There is an element of
theoretical dimension, something so close to political maneuver to
outsmart if not to outwit and dilute South Sudan entry in to the bloc.
You see, Sudan has unfinished business against the Republic of South
Sudan, its avowed archival. This is how: Khartoum is aware of dilemma
in which the South is in at the moment as to EAC membership. The
economy of the EAC countries for the past few years has been steady
and quiet impressive. South Sudan intention to join under its current
economic shape is shaky. To join will mean that South Sudan must be
ready to compete with the giants of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Juba
is delaying for understandable reasons, and with time, it will lodge a
request, something the sisters of East Africa will definitely granted.
Khartoum in this juncture wants to capitalize on this short term
strategy by Juba so to scoop whatever it wants before South Sudan
became an official member. Sudan understands the bitter past of the
two countries and if it joins first, the South might turn away or
decline to go there. There is too much bad blood between the two
countries and this will not go away overnight. Juba has suffered an
economic blockage for the past seven months, but impact isn’t that
much as East Africa stood in for the South.
So Khartoum is cleverly playing politics in its impending difficult
economic meltdown It is my wish that the regional leaders turn
Khartoum away from joining the bloc, that country is a trouble maker
and might cause problems to the rest of East Africa through its
ideological orientation and poor partnership. They must be rejected
and ask to go to Arab countries for trade or any other integration.
Long live East African Community. down with Khartoum!
Isaiah Abraham lives in Juba; he is on [email protected]
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