Message for NRM legislators (MPs) on East African cooperation
I have learned that one of the principal purposes of the just concluded Kyankwanzi week long seminar for NRM legislators was to discuss acceleration of the East African economic integration and political federation. I have written extensively on this subject and posted articles on Ugandans at Heart Forum and on www.kashambuzi.com. Therefore the message to NRM legislators will be brief.
As a majority party in parliament you have a special responsibility to promote, defend and protect the interests of Ugandans in whatever you do. Any negotiation must bring net gains to Uganda. The history of the East African cooperation appears to have yielded fewer benefits but more losses to Uganda. This must be avoided in the current and future negotiations. To prepare yourselves well you may need to look at what has happened or is happening in other parts of the world engaged in a similar exercise.
Regarding political federation MPs are urged to study why the following failures have occurred:
1. The Central African federation of Northern and Southern Rhodesia and Nyasaland;
2. The Yugoslavia federation;
3. The czechoslovakia federation