Political Leadership and Regional Integration: A Case of the East African Community Common Market

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