East African Community (eac) – Inspiring Constitutional Change by Promoting Constitutionalism?

Abstract The East African Community ( eac ) is considered to be one of the most successful international organizations in Africa. Due to the founding Treaty’s commitment to democracy, human rights, rule of law and to achieving of a political federation, one may think that the eac has a potential to promote the ideas of transformative African constitutionalism in the participating states. However, the history of regional integration in East Africa, the eac ’s current institutional set-up and its substantive law tell a different story. The organization’s elitist legacy and an integration model depending on the goodwill of the heads of state do not fully deliver on the principles which the Treaty pronounces. It is the pro-active stance taken by the East African Court of Justice ( eacj ) and to some extent also by the East African Legislative Assembly ( eala ) that keeps the constitutionalism and the hopes of East Africans alive.