Keywords: federalism, regional integration, East Africa, Kenya, Tanzania

The idea of a federation is evolving in many regions of the Black Continent. In East Africa, federalism is practiced at both intra-and inter-State and regional levels. Ethiopia has a system of "ethnic" federalism, Somalia is already creating federal political institutions, as in Kenya, where the state structure is changing in the direction of decentralization along the ethno-regional principle. The federal idea is being actively discussed in Uganda, and in Tanzania, the debate over changes in the political system may lead to a change in the status of Zanzibar and a renegotiation of the terms of the union between the mainland and the island parts of the country, whose half-century anniversary is celebrated on April 26, 2014.

Federalization has affected the East African region as a whole, resulting in the creation of the East African Community, which aims to form a political federation under the slogan "One people, one destiny". This article examines the socio-cultural aspects of regional integration in East Africa and current political processes in Kenya and Tanzania. The author managed to visit these countries in August 2013 in the format of a research trip.

The processes of inter-State integration in modern Africa and the existence of such a phenomenon as the East African Community (EAC) can be felt literally physically. This refers, for example, to the procedure for obtaining visas when visiting a region: if you are traveling to two countries of the Community, it is enough to visit the embassy of only one of them, while the other one is granted a visa automatically upon entry. However, apart from standard procedures for crossing borders by land or air, there is little evidence of real regional integration. When traveling by bus from Kenya to Tanzania-from Nairobi to Arusha - in the border town of Namanga, the Community declares itself with a large billboard (information board) near the passport control point.

Another unexpected encounter with VAS paraphernalia occurred in the hinterlands of northern Tanzania. In the office of the Hadzabe Community Project, where permits to visit the Hadza community are issued, a calendar printed in Kenya for 2013 with portraits of current African heads of state hung on the wall. In the center of the calendar are 5 larger portraits of the presidents of Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi, Uganda, and Rwanda.

The user can only guess how these images are grouped and highlighted. There is no indication on the calendar that these are portraits of the presidents of the States of the East African Community. It is not difficult to assume that the majority of citizens of the EAC member countries are not well aware of the activities of this structure, which is designed to promote unity and prosperity of the inhabitants of a huge region.

EAST AFRICA ON THE ROAD TO FEDERATION

Integration processes in the Community take place mainly in the economic sphere, and the creation of a favorable visa regime should contribute to the growth of tourist attractiveness of the region, which is extremely important for East African countries. Political integration is also planned. In October 2013, during a visit to the EAC exhibition at the Nairobi International Trade Fair, Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta called on the countries of the region to accelerate the formation of a political federation [1]. I must say that such calls from politicians are constantly heard.

This idea has a rich and remarkable history. Since the first decades of the twentieth century, the British authorities have been developing plans to integrate their colonial possessions in East Africa (Kenya, Uganda and Tanganyika) in the form of a federation, as well as projects of cooperation between neighboring territories (The East African Closer Union). Unification processes were updated during independence, and in 1967 the East African Community was created on the basis of projects initiated by the British in the field of customs, the common market and infrastructure. The Community functioned until 1977, when integration was suspended due to economic imbalances and political differences between the leaders of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. In particular, the leaders of Uganda and Tanzania were dissatisfied with the desire of capitalist-oriented and more economically developed Kenya to dominate the Community, relegating EAC partners to secondary roles.

"ONE FATE"

After years of negotiations, the East African SWB-

the company was officially re-established in 2000. Optimists saw you as a model for developing regional integration across the entire African continent. The economy is the main area in which the Community operates: the principles of functioning of the customs and currency unions, as well as the common market, are being improved. In the political sphere, inter-parliamentary cooperation of the member states of the Community is organized, and the East African Legislative Assembly is created [2]. The organization is headquartered in Arusha, Tanzania.

Political integration of EAC participants is problematic for some experts. Contradictions between members of the Community, in particular, disagreements between Tanzania and Rwanda over the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), may hinder the achievement of this goal. In recent months, media reports have been circulating about tensions between the partners and the isolation of Tanzania and Burundi within the EAC [3]. According to Tanzanian leaders, representatives of the country were not invited to a number of important meetings where issues related to the entire Community were discussed. The cautious position taken by the United Republic of Tanzania (ORT) on integration issues has become a kind of "stumbling block" on the path of unification [4]. There were also warnings about the possible collapse of the Community [5] and about Tanzania's withdrawal from the EAC and its reorientation to other neighbors-DRC, Mozambique and Zambia as potential partners for integration in the region [6], which, along with ORT, are part of SADC (Southern African Development Community, SADC).

In early November 2013, Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete stated at a meeting of the country's parliament that Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda had themselves separated themselves from Tanzania by creating "The Coalition of the Willing" [7]. Tanzania, as the country's leader stressed, will not leave the EAC, as it is also ready to move towards a political federation, but "without skipping" over key points of economic integration, such as the monetary union. According to ORT managers, issues of land relations, immigration, and labor movement also need to be studied [8]. Following the sharp statement of the Tanzanian president, Kenyan officials called for normalization of relations between the EAC members [9].

Meanwhile, at the 15th Summit of Heads of State of the East African Community, held in Kampala, Uganda, on 30 November 2013, all five Presidents met. Following the summit, U. Kenyatta (Kenya), J. Kikwete (Tanzania), Pierre Nkurunziza (Burundi), Paul Kagame (Rwanda), and Yoweri Museveni (Uganda) signed a communique that agreed to start developing a roadmap for the preparation of an East African Federation agreement. Thus, despite the disagreements between the partners, the unification processes continue. One of the points of the communique is the creation of a special body that coordinates the work of the media in order to more actively cover and promote the ideas of integration among the residents of the region.

Another area of activity of EAC structures reflected in the summit documents is the introduction of a single passport throughout the Community by November 2015.Prospects for recognizing French as the official language of the EAC, in addition to English and Swahili, were discussed. The issue of South Sudan and Somalia joining the Community was also considered. However, the current domestic political situation in these countries is extremely unstable and causes concern for all participants in the integration process. The summit discussed security issues in the region as a whole, the situation in Somalia and in the eastern regions of the DRC [10]. The meeting participants expressed solidarity with the people of Kenya in connection with the brutal terrorist attack on the Westgate shopping center in Nairobi, carried out by the Somali Al-Shabaab group on September 21, 2013.

At the same time, criticism of Tanzania's slowness to integrate has received a bizarre twist in the Ugandan electronic media in light of the tragic events in the Kenyan capital. According to the Ugandan newspaper New Vision, in September 2013, the EAC secretariat in Arusha tried to organize the collection and dispatch of blood donations for victims in Nairobi. "Blood is the most converging factor in the East African community, since almost all the tribes in the region are similar in one way or another," the observer is sure. How can Tanzanians question the need for unification when all East Africans are related by blood? - as if he asks and admits: "New splits are taking place within the bloc, and its members are now more openly expressing their concerns, leaving aside blood ties "[11].

In Tanzania, however, the ideological foundations of East African unity are seen differently.-

otherwise. An editorial in the Daily News (Dar es Salaam) confirms ORT's commitment to a political federation together with other EAC partner States. After all, it is an " irrefutable fact "that" the inhabitants of East Africa are connected in one way or another. Geographical boundaries established by colonialists should not serve as a deterrent that undermines unity and stability." This is a recognition of the commonality of historical destinies and a vision of joint prospects for East African countries in solving urgent problems and defining regional development goals [12].

Whether the unity of East Africans is understood in a naturalistic, essentialist way, as a blood relationship in the literal sense, or as a political, civil society that shares common ideas about the historical past and plans for the future, in any case, we are witnessing the construction and mobilization of regional identity.

ODIN NAROD

So what is this East African "people"like? The population of a huge region, five nation-states, a community united in economic and political relations? Strong country nationalism, regionalism, tribalism, and the politics of cultural differences that hinder civil solidarity and exacerbate internal political conflicts in the States of the region should not be discounted.

The fact that the East African Community as a whole and its individual members are far from achieving the ideals of peace and unity can be seen from the example of events in Kenya. This state had a short experience of federalism at the dawn of independence. Since 1963, the country has had a constitution based on the British model, which included elements typical of many federal systems, such as a bicameral parliament (bicameralism) and provincial legislative assemblies. Then, during the constitutional reforms of 1966-1969. Kenya received a unitary political system. For many years, the struggle for the return of federalism has not stopped. It was seen as a way to eliminate "historical injustices" committed against various groups of the population: the principle of "divide and rule" applied in colonial administration was also used in the political practice of independent Kenya.

Kenya is currently introducing a transition system from unitary to federal. As a result of the introduction, in accordance with the 2010 Constitution, of the principle of devolution, which provides for the transfer, delegation by the center of some of its powers to the regions, the country actually becomes a "regional state". The Kenyan version resembles Ethiopian "ethnic" federalism. If such a comparison is acceptable, the movement for changing the political and administrative design in these countries was based to some extent on the idea of the dominance of "majority representatives" in the state power system: in Ethiopia - the Amhara, in Kenya - the Kikuyu. Both the concept of majimbo (translated from Swahili as regionalism or federalism) and certain elements of the former federal model, which has been functioning in Kenya since 1963, are returning to political practice. For example, we are talking about bicameralism: the 2010 constitution recreates the upper house of Parliament-the Senate.

However, describing the modern political system, Kenyan politicians prefer the concept of "devolution" to the debated and "historically loaded"term majimbo. The former administrative division into provinces has been abolished. The main territorial and political units under the new constitution are counties, which are granted autonomy. Some of them are named in the same way as communities whose representatives make up the numerical majority in the population of an administrative division.

The renewal of the political system is designed to prevent a repeat of the inter-communal clashes that have regularly occurred in recent years, including during the election period. However, outbreaks of tribal and inter-clan discord, fueled and used for political purposes, are only a reflection of the deep socio - economic problems that Kenya faces [13, p.105-107]. The land issue remains acute [14, p. 79-84]. Will the new political order help to smooth out contradictions and establish a balance of "group interests" or will it lead to an increase in regionalist sentiments and "Balkanization" of the country?..

Even in Tanzania, where the state-

donation policy in the postcolonial period was specifically aimed at forming a single territorial and political community, regardless of the tribal affiliation of citizens, culture sometimes turns into an instrument of politics. The country does not keep statistical records of tribal affiliation and native language proficiency. This attitude is a continuation of the ideology and policy of the first president, Julius Nyerere (in 1962-1964 - President of Tanganyika, in 1964-1985-President of ORT), to build a unified Tanzanian nation with the official language of Swahili [15, p. 39]. Although Nyerere's heritage is still highly regarded by the country's citizens, this does not prevent them from discussing cultural differences at the everyday level, and religion is considered the main "dividing line" of Tanzanians. Moreover, tribal identity is being updated; not only religious, but also cultural factors play an important role [16, p. 337-339] in the dynamics of the political system and union relations between Tanganyika and Zanzibar.

The United Republic of Tanzania-the result of the merger of Tanganyika and Zanzibar - is sometimes considered a contractual asymmetric federation (de facto) or a regional State. Actually, in Tanzania, the federal nature of this association is not recognized: the term "union"is officially used. Many Western experts also do not consider Tanzania a federation.

The mainland of the country is a unitary political entity. The Zanzibar Archipelago, which includes the islands of Unguja and Pemba, has significant autonomy. The population of the archipelago is very diverse. These are mainly Muslims, communities of various origins in time and place - native Africans-"Shirazi", "Arabs", as well as Africans from the mainland. Among the immigrants from the continent, there are also Christians.

The historical background of the Zanzibari communities and the interpretation of past events have an impact on the socio-political situation on the islands and in Tanzania as a whole. During the era of their rule in Zanzibar, the British developed and implemented a racialist discourse and ranked the inhabitants of the archipelago. The privileged group, after the British themselves, were considered "Arabs", the rest were "Indians" and "Africans". All these were conditional collective categories, not even racial, but rather cultural and social, which, nevertheless, found application in statistics and in the practice of colonial administration. At the same time, economic realities confused the British maps, since the scheme "Arab - landowner, Indian - trader, African - plantation worker" increasingly failed [ 17, p.22].

With independence in 1963, the main political force on the islands was the pro-Arab Nationalist Zanzibar Party, which advocated self-determination. On April 22, 1964, the agreement on the unification of Tanganyika and the former sultanate of Zanzibar was signed, and on April 26 it came into force [18, p. 61], where earlier, on January 12 of the same year, a revolution took place and power passed to the Afro-Shirazi Party, which defended the need to unite with Tanganyika [19, p. 847 - 850]. The young revolutionary state - the People's Republic of Zanzibar and Pemba - was called "Cuba in Africa" in the West; after the unification of the archipelago with the mainland, the potential threat of external interference passed [20, pp. 121-138].

In recent years, the political situation in the island part of the country has been characterized by a struggle between the opposition Civic United Front (CUF) and the ruling Revolutionary Party in Tanzania (Chama cha Mapinduzi - CCM). The" pro-regionalist"," pro-Arab "and" pro-Islamic " GOF, which advocates renegotiating the terms of unification of the archipelago with the mainland and for the separation of Zanzibar, is popular among the Muslim Zanzibarians of Unguja and especially Pemba. The CHM's desire to preserve the union is supported by Africans from the continent. However, it is very difficult to determine the social base of these parties on the islands.

Supporters of secession refer to the unfair, in their opinion, distribution of resources between the archipelago and the continental part of the country, to violations during the elections. They are also dissatisfied with the fact that at the time when the union was concluded, a referendum was not held, and the merger of sovereign states-Tanganyika and Zanzibar-was the result of an agreement between the two leaders (J. R. R. Tolkien).Nyerere and Abeida Amani Karume), and not the will of the population of the combined territories. The socio-economic and political justifications of separatism are largely based on the rhetoric of the Zanzibar regional identity, on the ideas about the cultural difference between the inhabitants of the archipelago and the population of the mainland.

The economic, demographic, social and political situation both in Zanzibar and in the continental part of the country is constantly changing, and the perception of the union is changing accordingly. These are interrelated processes. Moreover, the Zanzibaris themselves, residents of the islands of Unguja and Pemba, sometimes take opposite positions on the issue of secession. Residents of the mainland are no less concerned about the fate of the association and make "counter-claims". In particular, they ask: why do Tanzania and Zanzibar have their own presidents, but the mainland does not?

The United Republic of Tanzania, which pan-Africanists saw as a kind of laboratory for African unity and a unique example of sustainable development in Africa.

the union of sovereign political units is facing drastic changes. A new draft constitution is currently being discussed, providing for a three-tier government structure - for the mainland, Zanzibar, and the Union as a whole. [21]

There is a high degree of politicization of citizens everywhere. Across the country, flags of leading parties can be seen on the streets, regardless of the specific dates of election campaigns, which indicates the popularity of a particular party in the regions. In the continental part, the PMU and the Party for Democracy and Progress (CHADEMA) compete, in Zanzibar - the PMU and the GOF.

Tanzanians are actively discussing current political events, and even in the hinterlands they are interested in the problem of Zanzibar. In a conversation with a resident of Moshi in northern Tanzania, I heard a curious remark about chaga (vajagga). It is one of the largest and most economically influential communities in Tanzania, and its representatives can be found in different parts of the country. "If Zanzibar gains independence, the next ones to demand independence will be chagga..." Other chagga interlocutors, on the contrary, do not seriously consider such a prospect. Such statements only confirm the fact that not only religious, but also tribal affiliation is a very sensitive area in the life of modern Tanzanians and, moreover, gets a political connotation.

* * *

In conclusion, the politicization of cultural differences is very dangerous and can become a challenge to the democratic development of African countries. The prospects for federalism in East Africa are driven by a variety of internal and external factors. The processes of inter-State unification coexist with trends towards disintegration within States.

Ugandan "New Vision" quotes the words of the Secretary-General of the EAC Rwandan Richard Sezibera. In October 2013, at a meeting in Nairobi, he expressed a desire for Community members to put aside their concerns and build a unified community: it would become "the storehouse of all our hopes", the embodiment of "the celebration of our differences". R. Sezibera called on East Africans not to remain "a collection of fears", but "to risk becoming one people" [22].

With what baggage of internal problems and achievements the countries of East Africa will approach the political federation, time will tell.

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2. http://www.eala.org/the-assembly/history.html

3. East Africa: Dar Seeks Clarification Over EAC Isolation -http://allafrica.com/stories/201310220053.html

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6. East Africa: Trust, Unity and Understanding Must Prevail in EAC - http://allafrica.com/stories/201311100177.html? aa_source=useful-column

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11. Splits emerging within EAC bloc - http://www.new-vision.co.ug/news/648830-splits-emerging-within-eac-bloc.html

12. East Africa: Trust, Unity and Understanding Must Prevail in EAC - http://www.dailynews.co.tz/index.php/ dailynews/24507-trust-unity-and-understanding-must-prevail-in-eac

13. Dagne T. Kenya: Current conditions and the challenges ahead // Economic, political, and social issues of Africa. N.Y., 2012.

14. Matveeva N. F. Land problem in Kenya // Economic and socio-political aspects of African security. Issue No. 18. Moscow, 2010. (Matveyeva N.F. Zemel'naya problema v Kenii // Ekonomicheskie i social'no-politicheskie aspekty afrikanskoy bezopasnosti. N 18. M., 2010) (in Russian)

15. Bondarenko D. M. Afrika: formirovanie natsii i etnorasovaya tolerantnost ' [Africa: the formation of nations and ethno-racial tolerance]. 2011, N 12. (Bondarenko D.M. Afrika: formirovanie natsyi i etnorasovaya tolerantnost' // Aziya i Afrika segodnya. 2011, N 12) (in Russian)

16. Jerman H. Between five lines: The development of ethnicity in Tanzania with special reference to the western Bagamoyo District. Saarijarvi, 1997.

17. Loimeier R. Between social skills and marketable skills: The politics of Islamic education in 20'h century Zanzibar. Leiden, Boston, 2009.

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20. For more information, see: Teterin O. I. Na Zanzibare, a little about yourself and others [1965-1966] / / In Egypt and on Zanzibar (1960-1966). Memoirs of Soviet military translators. Moscow, 2011 (Teterin O. I. Na Zanzibare, nemnogo o sebe i drugikh (1965-1966 gody) / / V Egipte i na Zanzibare (1960-1966): Memuary sovietskikh voennykh perevodchikov. M., 2011) (in Russian)

21. Draft Tanzania constitution proposes new three-tier government - http://www.africareview.com/News/New-Tanza-nia-constitution-proposes-three-tier-governm ent/-/979180/ 1871776/-/12fk2k5/-/index.html(15.01.2014)

22. Splits emerging within EAC bloc...

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