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Abstract:
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Beginning from the ancient, traditional, modern to the contemporary Social Media, communication has always played a unifying, educational, informational, and entertainment role in society. In stating this, however, one cannot overlook the fact that communication or the lack of it has also (in these periods) been used to divide communities, socioeconomic-political blocs and nations. In the case of the East African Community (EAC), it is probable that of the various factors that contributed to the collapse of the original EAC in 1977, lack of effective communication to the EAC citizens and Member States was a key factor. It then took fourteen years for the formal communique to revive the EAC, and another eight years for the Treaty to be signed.
Conversely, the European Union (EU) that boasts of twenty-eight member states, and counting, is an example of an organization with similar mandates as the EAC. These nations came into existence, developed, and are continually evolving to meet their citizens’ needs and aspirations. Whereas the first attempt to establish EU in 1993 took deep root and stood on firm grounds, the desire to establish EAC is on the third attempt. One of the reasons contributing to the success is the fact that EU member states developed communication strategies to raise awareness about EU’s existence; and the benefits that member states and citizens could derive from continues engagement. Similarly, this chapter holds that if the EAC agenda is to succeed, then communication ought to be at the core of the development of eastafricanization |