ABSTRACT
East African regional integration is portrayed as having had a long history, both before and after colonial administration. Scholars in this field have argued, with some inconsistency, that it has been a struggle for the region to achieve this end. The uneven struggle began with the tracing of borders and the formation of states, although there had been a long-standing reality of free and traditional movement of peoples and goods, and relocation based on occupation. The formation of states, which was accompanied by a significant degree of state sovereignty, affected and indeed still affects the social dimension of the region. Families were separated, and some family members found themselves in a different state to other members of their family. Maintaining cross-border common identities in the geographic context set up by the colonial administrations signified understanding not only socio-economic divisions but also political ones, which in many ways played out differently. In the context of the geographical history of East Africa, staying together and strengthening regional integration remains an ideal for East African Member States. This study examines the early traditional movement of peoples and goods, as well as of certain activities, which remain an integral element in the process of EAC regional integration, and which should not be ignored. It then analyses the status of social elements such as education, normative power and human rights in the current endeavour for regional integration in the East African Community. In addition, although each region is contextually unique, not only with regard to its geopolitical status, but socially, politically and economically, it notes some experiences of the EU, less with the aim of comparing the two regions than as an example for regional integration from which the EAC may draw salutary lessons.
