The East African Community (EAC) is an intergovernmental organisation comprising the five east African countries Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda. While generally, the member nations are largely in favor of the East African Federation, informal polls indicate that most Tanzanians (80% of its population) have an unfavorable view. Tanzania has more land than the other EAC nations combined, and some Tanzanians fear landgrabs by the current residents of the other EAC member nations. Land scarcity is a recurring issue in East Africa, particularly in Kenya, where clashes on the Kenyan side of Mount Elgon in 2007 left more than 150 dead and forced at least 60,000 away from their homes.
The first major step in establishing the East African Federation is the customs union in East Africa signed in March 2004 which commenced on 1 January 2005. Under the terms of the treaty, Kenya, the region's largest exporter, will continue to pay duties on its goods entering the other four countries until 2010, based on a declining scale. A common system of tariffs will apply to goods imported from third-party countries. (Read more...)