State Politics and Public Policy in Eastern Africa

This chapter crafts a state transformation perspective. It conceptualises three kinds of state politics: politics of domination, politics of consolidation and politics of participation. While these forms of state politics may be associated with different phases during the state’s political institutionalisation, they operate simultaneously in Africa’s political landscape. The result is the emergence of complex but functional or hybrid political and administrative systems. In this manner, the public policy as optimal means and ends or the matching of political objectives to the public interest remains unclear as governments struggle to realise structures and norms that leverage their legitimacy and popular participation at the same time. A state transformation analysis essentially puts into context the African state’s colonial legacies and its journey towards optimising bureaucratic rationality, national integration and democratisation as pillars of the modern state. This chapter’s discussion draws on different cases, historical analyses and secondary data to contextualise this perspective in Eastern Africa.

This chapter seeks to explain and analyse the divergent identity and state formation challenges in eastern Africa and the implications for state legitimacy and performance. Accordingly, routes, ontologies and models are aptly explicated. The chapter argues that identity is the foundation of a state as it also determines its structure. Hence, the state’s nature and structure may be shaped by the type of identity. Here, identity stems from two conceptualisations, notably civic and ethnic. The chapter identifies three types of state in eastern Africa: the proto-state, colonial and national liberation. Do these divergences in ontological formation have implications for state legitimacy and performance? The chapter seeks to address the question. Despite the divergence of routes and models of identity and state formation, all three grapple with the perennial predicament of identity and state formation, determining political action and public policy debates. The variance of the source of legitimacy certainly affects performance. In general, however, all types of states exhibit poor performance records.

The governments of national unity in Kenya (2008–2013) and Zimbabwe (2009–2013) have relevance beyond Eastern Africa. This chapter examines how political science has learned lessons from both experiences. It does so by focusing on three bodies of literature: (1) international data sets on power sharing; (2) the comparative literature on consociationalism; (3) regional and case studies. The starting point is Giovanni Sartori’s “boomerang effect”, or how misclassification can undermine valid theories. In this case, how misinterpretations of the experience with governments of national unity in Kenya and Zimbabwe have distorted our views on power sharing in general and consociationalism in particular. This chapter demonstrates that the boomerang effect has not been avoided in scholarly analysis. One reason is conceptual confusion between power sharing and consociationalism.

Since the end of colonial rule in Africa in the 1960s, Africa’s state politics has been littered with secessionists’ narratives, aspirations and a few definitive separations in different countries, albeit with varying degrees and frequency. The Eastern Africa region presents an interesting case for the general analysis of secessionism, particularly in Africa. Today, the region hosts a successful, failed and active secessionist agenda. This chapter comparatively analyses the emergence and trends for countering secessionist claims in Eastern Africa while also generating insights for discerning secessionist discourses and political action or public policy in Africa. Two questions are addressed: What explains the similarities in the emergence, escalation, maturity and final separation of a section of a state into a newer state, given experiences drawn from some nations in Eastern Africa? What policies and mechanisms apply in addressing the secessionists’ claims and problems of secessionism rooted in various parts of Africa? The chapter concludes with general remarks on the intricacies of secessionist claims underpinned in the ethnic-nationalist variables and a complex mix of socio-economic, historical heritages and political dynamics specific to each state.

Even though Agenda 2063 seeks a Peaceful and Secure Africa, pockets of political instability persist between member countries, producing all forms of cross-border tensions. In particular, civil war-induced refugees have accompanied the politics of state formation and have continued to engage in refugee militarisation and cross-border insurgency in Eastern Africa. This chapter revisits and examines refugees’ role in perpetuating civil wars, refugeeism and foreign policy politics in selected countries. It mainly looks into the Ethio-Sudanese relations regarding these states’ policy and treatment of a particular group of refugees and how refugees continue to play a central role in the inter-state relations between them under different contexts. These two cases have a history of refugee protection for each other’s nationals. Besides, these states are currently going through political instabilities. The Sudanese have sought refuge in Ethiopia since 2011. Ethiopians have also, since November 2020, been seeking refuge in Sudan due to the ongoing conflict in the Tigray region. External powers and international organisations have also played their parts in shaping Ethio-Sudanese relations. Thus, how these two countries respond towards refugees, particularly to each other’s nationals and civil wars, is reminiscent of the Cold War-era state politics, which used refugees as a foreign policy tool in inter-state interactions.

For nascent states in Eastern Africa, the challenge of state-societal relations was problematic from the onset, given the roots of the military as an organised as opposed to an organic instrument of violence for the securitisation of external rather than objective societal interests. Notably, initial attempts at a Huntingtonian model of civil control failed as successor elite were confronted with mutinies, coup d’états and attempts. An apparent Janowitzian model that negates the separation of the military and its distanciation from politics seems to be a contemporary model preferred by political actors in Eastern Africa. This, in turn, is animating discourses on what is referred to as the militarisation of public civil realms. Of interest are dynamics within and across these states that underpin the apparent similarities in this trend, be it by former civilians turned state de-reconstruction warriors (Uganda and Rwanda) or carrier politicians (Tanzania and Kenya). We can interrogate the nexus between the nature of the state and military role-play. This chapter analyses the discourses and realities of what should be better conceived as multiple and differentiated forms of militarisation and politicisation of the military and the realities of military missions and national security in East African states/regions.

This chapter discusses the public sector reforms (PSRs) in Eastern Africa since the 1960s, focusing on Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Ethiopia. We mainly identify constitutional reforms as the primary explanatory variable that underpins the structural transformation of the state and its politics, leading to the introduction and implementation of PSRs in different sectors: decentralisation, fiscal reforms, and civil service reforms. We conduct a historical context analysis to discern the essence of recent governance reforms that have characterised the public sector reforms in the last two decades. The chapter also sheds insights into the rationale behind these reforms from historical and theoretical perspectives. It further explores factors that influenced the choice of form of government in different states. Furthermore, the chapter deals with issues of why these governments and reforms have performed the way they have. The discussion generates either analytical or empirical generalisation based on different country examples.

Most social protection programmes express the state’s commitment to human and social rights. The allocation of social protection as a public good attracts political and public interest due to its encompassing nature. Both the vulnerable and the non-vulnerable require social protection despite the varying access and equity differences. This calls for interrogation and understanding of how social protection is accessed and distributed and the politics surrounding the process. This chapter explores three aspects of social protection: those whose need for social protection is recognised and protected (the visible); those whose need for social protection is not recognised nor protected (the invisible) and those whose need for social protection is recognised but not protected (the ignored). This typology allows us to ask the question of who falls into which category and why. These are explicitly political questions, which this chapter seeks to highlight. Like many others, Eastern African countries are far from achieving the 5 per cent target, but most are implementing various programmes on social protection. We analyse the politics of social protection in the three most populous Eastern African countries—Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania—to illustrate the identified categories of social protection policies.

Since the Beijing platform for action on women’s rights in 1995, many states and regional bodies have enacted laws to help implement the conference’s recommendations. Most of these laws are in the form of gender quotas. Arguably, 130 out of 156 states currently have one form of gender quota or the other. These quotas commonly exist in three central categories: reserved seats, party quotas and legislative quotas. This chapter dissects these categories to understand how they position women legislators—elected and nominated—for legislative leadership roles. It disassociates sex from gender quotas and compares access to legislative leadership positions between women and men and between elected and nominated local government assemblies in Kenya. We rely on Feminist Institutionalism (FI) lenses and rich empirical data to tease out the interstices between institutions, cultural structures and norms underpinning the exclusion of female legislators from legislative leadership positions. Our empirical analysis makes nuanced comparative inferences to other Eastern African states. Overall, we show that the art of nation-building in Africa, as elsewhere, is incomplete without effectively integrating women in key decision-making political institutions like the legislature.

The presence and how civil societies operate is a function of a democratic society. Civic space has been used to measure the degree of a political regime’s openness, transparency and government political responsiveness in addressing policy problems. Despite confronting challenges primarily bordering on the state’s autocratic norms, civic spaces are growing in Eastern Africa, leading to an expanded role of non-state actors in public policy processes. This chapter explores the role of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) as policy entrepreneurs in the housing policies in Uganda and Kenya. It shows how despite prevailing unfavourable political conditions, the CSOs have made efforts to influence policy agenda in the region with varying outcomes. An examination of the housing policy framework of Uganda and Kenya reveals that overall, housing policies have evolved progressively since independence and with the growth of these countries’ democratic spaces. In this transformation, the CSOs have effectively assisted governments in improving the housing situation through their advocacy, technical collaborations or policy argumentation, citizen mobilisation, research and information sharing to assist in policy framing, monitoring and evaluation.

There is now a consensus that Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) are central to development and policy is crucial for their successful implementation. Through STI, the African Union’s Agenda 2063 aspires to build well-educated citizens, enhance skills revolution and build Africa’s economies. However, most African countries are still struggling with the domestication of STI despite the overall improving progress and integration of STI policies in National Development Plans (NDPs). STI are yet to be effectively hinged on state institutions for public policy, raising concern over the efficacy of policy implementation and whether STI are appositely coupled with state politics. This chapter is a modest attempt to illuminate this crucial issue, specifically focusing on policy implementation deficits and how to find solutions by improving citizen agency repertoires, mainly citizen participation, policy entrepreneurship, lobbying and mobilisation. The chapters show how the state-and nation-building political conditions and policy structures pattern the realisation of STIs in development in Eastern Africa. We focus on the Rwandese, Ugandan, Kenyan and Tanzanian implementation experiences of STI.

Climate governance leverages collaborative climate change adaptation actions. Despite many joint actions, gaps exist between policy and practice in climate adaptation among East African countries. Climate governance in East Africa takes cues from the state’s politics and policy structures underpinned by its level of political transformation. As such, climate governance confronts challenges common to all other policy sectors that integrate a complex mix of economic resource allocation and variables akin to the management of public affairs. This chapter identifies prebendalism, nepotism and political patronage in resource allocations. This chapter assesses the trends in climate change governance in East Africa. It addresses climate change policy frameworks on adaptation at regional, national and local governments, gaps between policy and practice of the nationally determined contributions (NDCs) and the management of climate-related conflicts. The chapter concludes by recommending further courses of action to strengthen climate governance among the local communities.

Like many other post-colonial countries, East African countries inherited dependent economies, making them particularly vulnerable to pressure from international development actors mainly due to globalisation since the 1980s. Whereas some East African states have sought to overcome this dependent relationship by adopting more self-reliant approaches, others have sought to address the same problem by further enhancing the existing strong relationships. Within the neo-liberal institutionalist framework, regional integration initiatives determine member states’ capacity to overcome limitations occasioned by the narrow focus on state sovereignty in an interdependent and rapidly changing world embedded in supra-national governance mechanisms. This chapter examines the extent to which the second phase of the East African community has enabled member countries to overcome dependency in their trade relationships with the extra-EAC powers within the emerging Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs). The chapter links the goal of an African federation to reduced dependence and the persistence of state-centrism to the continuation of dependency by the East African member states. The study relies on secondary data deriving from official reports on East African integration.

Does the institutionalisation of free trade orthodoxy in Africa via the AfCFTA promote African development—or the global integrationist agenda? This chapter deals with this seemingly simple question with reference to the impact of AfCFTA on the development policy spaces of East African countries. The AfCFTA, we contend, was primarily driven by neoliberal dogma, not science. The uncritical adoption of AfCFTA is arguably a recipe for disaster. This is not to deny the possibility of short-run benefits associated with the removal of tariff and non-tariff barriers. On the whole, however, the AfCFTA entrenches the trade norms, policy choices and development preferences of advanced industrial economies, which (unlike Africa’s agrarian economies) have already been transformed into highly competitive manufacturing and digital economies. The net effect is to block, rather than promote, transformative development in Africa. The solution lies in pursuing economic integration and political federation (via the United States of Afrika—USAfrika) as joint objectives of building The Africa We Want. Without a firm USAfrika (to coordinate development and prevent risks such as “Brexiting”), the free trade orthodoxy mediated through AfCFTA should be suspended indefinitely.

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has prioritised policy coordination, infrastructure connectivity, trade and finance and people-to-people relations. While some scholars view BRI-related infrastructure projects as likely to eradicate poverty and promote inclusive growth, others view them as a global manifestation of China’s grand economic and geopolitical ambitions. Still, others have expressed concerns that China is undermining the Western approach to sustainable infrastructure development underpinned by good governance. However, these concerns are not well anchored on a solid empirical foundation. Moreover, we are yet to fully understand why China may adjust its governance approach in different host governments. This chapter systematically assesses the nature of governance employed during the inception and implementation of infrastructure projects through a comparative analysis of the Chinese-funded infrastructure projects in Kenya and Uganda. Specifically, the chapter adopts a two-tier dimension of governance to examine the approach of Chinese companies towards good governance. The analysis draws on secondary data to compare the inception and implementation of governance practices in the Kenyan-led Standard Gauge Railway (Phase One) and Uganda’s Kampala-Entebbe Expressway. The chapter shows that despite Chinese governance reforms having embraced the ideas of bureaucratic efficiency and anti-corruption efforts, the inception and implementation of Chinese-funded projects bear varying governance practices across countries.

A significant element in the EU co-operation with Eastern Africa relates to the EU’s aspirations to support democracy worldwide. The Treaty of Nice of the EU (2001) explicitly stipulated that promoting human rights and freedoms should be part of all EU development and other co-operation with developing countries. This principle gained prominence and an explicit codification in the Cotonou Agreement between the EU and the African, Caribbean and Pacific states (ACP) between 2000 and 2022. The year 2022, when a new agreement is to be signed, is a good time to look back at the application of these principles. Has the EU been able to support democracy in Eastern Africa? To this end, this chapter pays attention to both positive and negative democratisation instruments. The positive instruments like the election observation missions (EOM) appear to be the public image of EU democracy support before everything else. Economic sanctions, particularly smart sanctions and suspension of development aid, are the most important negative instruments. Together, these instruments have become an increasingly important part of the AU and EU’s attempts to prevent the erosion of democratic institutions in its Eastern African partner countries.