East Africa: Uncommon Cry

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Jomo Kenyatta wore a pink rosebud in his buttonhole. Julius Nyerere was decked out in a black pajama-style suit, and Milton Obote was all smiles. Standing in the Ugandan Parliament before a carved panel that depicted crested cranes, elephants, anteaters and gazelles, the three men lifted their champagne glasses in a toast that is often heard but all too seldom practiced these days in fractious Africa. "To unity!" cried the Presidents of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.

The three leaders had gathered in the Ugandan capital of Kampala to sign a treaty that creates a new East African Community. Though it stops far short of political unity, the new pact, if it works, will almost inevitably strengthen political ties. When it goes into effect next December, it will create a common market in which the vast bulk of goods produced in any of the three countries will not be subject to tariffs at the borders of the other two. A development bank with $36 million in capital will also be established to encourage industrialization, especially in Uganda and Tanzania, which trail far behind Kenya's impressive growth. New agencies will also be set up to coordinate scientific, monetary and cultural activities among the three countries.

The East African Community supersedes an earlier, British-established regional customs and transportation union, which never had much effect; all its headquarters were in Kenya, whose citizens held most of the key jobs —a fact that was resented by Ugandans and Tanzanians. Under the new plan, the headquarters of the different agencies will be scattered throughout the three participating countries so that each will feel that it is controlling its fair share of the action.