Regional integration requires the ceding or pooling of some elements of sovereignty by member states to enable regional organs and institutions to implement the objectives for which such institutions are created. In the case of Tanzania’s participation in the East African Community (EAC), this involves the ceding of sovereignty over certain matters which only one part of Tanzania – Zanzibar – has jurisdiction over.

In this study, Mahadhi Juma Maalim explores how the unique Union of Tanzania, which has a two-government structure and provides for Zanzibar’s exclusive jurisdiction on non-union matters, poses legal and political challenges with respect to integrating Zanzibar in the EAC and the implementation of EAC commitments.

The author asserts that the integration of Zanzibar in the EAC raises legal and constitutional challenges because the EAC covers many matters which are within the “exclusive jurisdiction” of Zanzibar. Zanzibar, on the other hand, although an autonomous entity within Tanzania, cannot participate directly in the EAC since it is not a sovereign State.

A critical analysis of the position and extent of the autonomy of Zanzibar within the Tanzanian constitutional set-up and in the EAC reveals serious challenges facing the integration of Zanzibar into the EAC in relation to Zanzibar’s non-union matters. The Tanzania (Union) Government has neither the authority to commit Zanzibar to the EAC nor any mandate to change the laws and administrative arrangements existing in Zanzibar to make them EAC compliant. The study recommends some special arrangements that need to be adopted if Zanzibar is to be fully integrated into the EAC.