Prof. Oucho Decries Unimpressive EAC Efforts to Engage the Diaspora

Africa Migration and Development Policy Centre (AMADPOC) Executive Director Prof. John Oucho has decried inadequate efforts undertaken by the East African Community (EAC) Secretariat in engaging East Africans who claim to be ‘East African diaspora.’

In his paper titled, ‘Engaging the East African Diaspora,’ he states that on-going efforts of EAC partner states to engage with its national diaspora continue to constrain the interests of the regional body in connecting with its citizens in the diaspora.

The paper, which he presented a fortnight ago at the Conference on Diasporas, Development and Governance in the Global South at Balsillie School of International Affairs in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, dismisses the existence of the term ‘East African diaspora.’

Instead, Prof. Oucho advocates for the term, 'National East African diasporas' because citizens who live outside the region identify with their specific countries in EAC. “Even within these countries, the national diaspora segments into various factions based on ethnicity, professional standing and administrative background,” Prof. Oucho opines.

Furthermore, according to Prof. Oucho, the efforts of the diaspora to engage with EAC Partner States face several obstacles including their heterogeneous nature. “Conflict-generated diaspora consist of a mix of various people from a country who arrived in the host nation at different times through varied means due to different reasons and thus, possess different statuses,” the paper states.

The existence of mistrust between governments and its citizens in the diaspora also negatively shapes the latter’s perceptions towards their homeland. Such perception results from the likelihood that the diaspora left their countries involuntarily to escape conflicts or political persecution. As such, their involvement in their countries’ home-based developments is largely negative.

The AMADPOC Executive Director also describes efforts by ‘East African Diaspora’ to engage in the development of EAC as superficial and simplistic. Nevertheless, he portends a ray of hope if these efforts can be harnessed properly. Prof. Oucho cites the case of East Africa Radio in the United States (Radio for the East African Diaspora), which uses Swahili programmes to reach out to many East Africans in the diaspora.

Another classical example is Cuso International that uses the East African Volunteer Opportunities to allow skilled volunteers share skills and enhance the capacity of partner organisations, such as, beneficiary groups in Kenya. It does this in the context of Diaspora for Development (DfD).  

The paper delves into the initiatives of Kenya, Uganda, Burundi, Tanzania and Rwanda in engaging their national diasporas. It notes the challenges East Africans in the diaspora face in participating in the development of their home countries.

AMADPOC’s research report in 2011 on the perceptions and attitudes of Kenyan and Tanzanian citizens’ towards their diasporas revealed their dislike of the diasporas’  demand for special attention at the expense of these people who never left their countries.  Ugandan citizens also have a negative attitude towards their diaspora—referring to them as Nkuba Nkyeyo—a demeaning word that reflects the citizens’ disdain for dirty work.  

The paper also addresses the EAC’s ultimate dream of the East African Federation stating that, “Establishing the much-desired East Africa Political Federation is pivotal to engaging successfully with the East African diaspora, but should be done carefully rather than hurriedly.” This dream, while held at the level of the EAC Summit, has not taken into consideration the perceptions, attitudes, apprehensions and aspirations of the EAC Partner States’ citizens. This requires research before structures for the federation could be put in place.

Prof. Oucho further advises that various Regional Economic Communities (RECs) in the region, like the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the EAC and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), should engage in extensive discourse, redrafting legislative frameworks and commissioning research to enable them gain informed knowledge of a meaningful East African diaspora. Till then, EAC’s engagement with its diaspora remains a mirage no matter how sweet it sounds.