The five member countries of the East African Community have just concluded electing their representatives to the East African Legislative Assembly (Eala) through a process that was more structured and democratic than the ones before. Essentially, political parties are becoming more central to the choice of the community legislators and the national Parliaments more responsible for the legitimacy of these members.
While this is a positive move in the right direction, we need to move even further and bring the East African people to centre stage in the political affairs of the community. After all, there seems to be a quiet consensus among the people that a political union would take us much further in economic integration and development.