| dc.description.abstract | The East African Community (EAC) is a regional integration initiative of East African countries, including
Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Tanzania, Kenya, South Sudan, Burundi, and Rwanda. The
EAC is struggling to achieve a fully functional common market. This research investigated political leader-
ship as an impediment to the region’s trade advancement using interpretative phenomenology. The researcher
interviewed selected individuals from the member state governments, regional trade bodies and private sec-
tor practitioners across the region. The findings posit that poor political leadership is a major challenge
affecting common market implementation. The research proposes relooking the EAC decision-making model,
reconciliation, sanction mechanism, political will and commitment, re-evaluating the principle of variable
geometry, financial solidarity, member states’ contributions, independence of EAC institutions, anti corruption
and EAC visioning as major solutions towards common market implementation. The study recommends
further research on how the solutions can be implemented for the benefit of the region. | en_US |
