“I am an East African from the province of Uganda,” I normally introduce myself at East African Business Council events. My colleagues do the same, from their own provinces of our region.

We are aspirational in tone and approach, almost pretending as if we are already operating in an East African Confederation of states.

Visiting Arusha last week for personal reasons I put my East African-ness forward almost by default.

The t-shirts I reached for naturally presented Uganda, Zanzibar and Tanzania, as did my scarf and the one formal shirt I packed “just in case”, as I am an adult.

As usual, at the immigration counter I got to practice a bit of my kiswahili so as to comfort the officer there that I was safe company as a compatriot and I was let through without incident.

The taxi driver wasn’t easily convinced and quizzed me, after a brief conversation, about my real origins – even throwing in a suggestion about one of the Congos.

I figured out that because of how young the population of East Africa is these days, the old joke about Kiswahili still gets surprised and genuine laughs when I tell it – and I had many opportunities to do so during the week:

“Kiswahili was born in Tanzania, fell sick in Kenya, died in Uganda and was buried in (the Democratic Republic of) Congo.”

Saidi, my waiter of many nights company, was among those who giggled when he heard it. But he was more interested in Allan Okello, the Ugandan who plays for Yanga (Younger FC) there; so interested that he brought him up in conversation on two different days.

When I tried to bring up Emmanuel Okwi as well, Saidi rejected the conversation with, “I hate him.”

“Come on,” I pleaded jokingly, “Surely you should like him as well since he played for you guys quite well at some time?”

“Yes – but now I hate him. He went to Simba FC and I hate them also.”

We laughed but I had to continue the discussion a little bit, to little avail.

Loving one team should not constitute hatred for another. I had had the same discussion with people during the recent World Cup tournament.

We should all love football, and support one team over another without bringing in hatred or even a serious dislike of the other team we do not support. 

“The same goes,” I explained to Saidi, “For our provinces (countries) of East Africa. You like Alan Okello even though he is a Ugandan, because he plays for your favourite team – the same way you seem to get along with me right now, right?”

“Yes.” 

We got to the point where I stressed that I am an East African from the province of Uganda, and he was one from the province of Tanzania. As East Africans from the provinces of all the partner states we should be compatriots all loving our region (as a country, one day) without hating or disliking any of the provinces.

We may wear different coloured shirts and speak kiswahili differently but we must start to think big sooner rather than later and turn this Community into a Federation where we can operate more seriously as one.

The conversation ran on till a bell rang somewhere but has lingered in my mind ever since.

Being Serious about East Africa is still difficult for some of us. 

Not only at the micro-level, annoyingly as I always experience when crossing the borders into Tanzania and finding that my Uganda National ID can’t work to get me through.

One day, away from Saidi’s bar counter, I found myself at the entrance of the East African Community Secretariat and being told I was not appropriately dressed.

Why?

I was not clad in a European suit and tie.

“Eh? I am wearing a properly formal East African shirt!” I declared, almost doing a twirl for the security personnel there.

They sympathised enough to summon a senior manager who turned up all polite – wearing his European suit and tie.

It turns out that there are new rules at the headquarters of East African integration that ban East African clothing for men as being considered formal.

My spirit was shaken. Not my East African spirit – but my personal one.

As we discussed the situation lightly there, my phone lit up with two news updates about a seemingly bigger hurdle to East African integration – which should have been part of my agenda trying to get into the building.

Ugandan sugar going into Kenya and Tanzanian rice coming into Uganda were both being blocked, for different reasons, by different organisations – all of them East Africans from the various provinces.

I sighed and thought to myself once again: Being serious about East Africa is still unnecessarily difficult.