Tanzania gave Africa Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, the pan-African statesman who championed African unity. Even when his East African federation dream did not materialise, Nyerere never abandoned the vision of East African political unity.
Now, Tanzania has given the East African Community its new secretary general, Stephen Patrick Mbundi, who assumed office on April 25. The profound question facing him is whether he will draw inspiration from Nyerere’s pan-African legacy to advance the East African socio-economic liberation cause.
Mbundi is not an outsider to Jumuiya. In the last 20 years, he has risen through ranks in Tanzania’s Ministry of EAC Affairs from a principal economist to director (political, defence and security affairs) and more recently, to permanent secretary.
Having led Tanzania’s delegations in technical and ministerial sessions across three Kenyan and three Tanzanian presidencies, he carries institutional memory that few current EAC officials possess. He has built relationships across partner state bureaucracies and understands EAC’s technical and political architecture and its intersection with national politics.
East Africans are counting on that depth of experience and institutional memory to deliver tangible results.
The question is whether Mbundi uses this experience as foundation for innovative problem-solving, or as a constraint that dismisses new ideas with “we’ve tried that before.”
Heads of State decried the “massaging” of their decisions by bureaucrats and ministers, delaying implementation. Indeed, some EAC members practice what many diplomatically call “thorough consultation”.
In practice, this is a consultation carousel, where decisions circle endlessly through technical committees and ministerial meetings but never arrive at action.
The question is whether Mbundi will align with the gate keeping officialdom that explains why integration initiatives “can’t work,” or become a reconciling facilitator, advising how to make them work faster. The new EAC Development Strategy provides Mbundi with a clear mandate: full implementation of the Common Market, operationalisation of Monetary Union institutions, finalisation of the Confederation constitution making process and institutional reform.
The question is whether Mbundi will facilitate full implementation of joint commitments or defend Tanzania’s delay tactics from Arusha. On institutional reform, he will have to choose between focusing on fundamental strategic issues such as strengthening the Secretariat’s capacity, or consuming Ministers’ time with trust-eroding administrative and personnel battles.
Strategic transformation requires evidence-based decision-making anchored in established institutional procedures.
These priorities depend on political will from the Summit, Ministers and national officials. The Secretary-General administers and implements rather than co-decides. He cannot force partner states to act against their perceived interests. But this is not an excuse for inaction. The Secretary-General directs what issues are prioritised in background papers that inform ministerial discussions.
That determines which challenges receive attention, how they are framed, which partner state concerns are amplified or reconciled, and whether the proposals arrive ready for approval or requiring ‘further consultation’.
This is why the facilitator versus gatekeeper choice matters absolutely. Even when political will seems limited, a transformative secretary general will prepare technical groundwork, identify win-win outcomes and create conditions for political courage so that ministers’ approvals become easier.
Mbundi also assumes office flanked by committed integrationists, President Museveni and Council Chair Rebecca Kadaga. Both are credible political champions who want integration to succeed. This support raises expectations significantly.
The Community is under close observation. When integration stalls, fingers mostly point to Arusha.