Nairobi, April 10 -- The name Zephania Giteadu Ubwani was perhaps not celebrity material in the strictest sense. But then the East African media fraternity has been mourning one of their kind; a man who has been eyes and ears of the political and economic falls, rises and misgivings of the regional integration.

Zephania Ubwani, or Zeph, was a Tanzanian journalist who worked for Nation Media Group (NMG) for more than three decades, usually based at the NMG's The Citizen and Mwananchi newspapers but also reported for The EastAfrican.

As the East African Community (EAC) became hopeless and later hopeful, Ubwani became some kind of in-house expert on integration. He could count achievements at his fingertips, and the perennial challenges of...