The East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) seeks to hold the East African Community (EAC) Partner States accountable in terms of timely payment of due contributions to address the current practice marred by delays and non-remittances.
The observation was made on November 27 by the members of this EAC legislative organ at a press conference about its meeting in Kigali, Rwanda.
Its meeting started on November 23 and runs through December 7.
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Among activities on the assembly’s agenda are motions – proposals made by parliamentarians for the house to decide on them.
During the meeting, regional lawmakers will discuss a motion calling for the EAC Council of Ministers to implement mechanisms to enforce Articles 143 and 146 of the Treaty for Establishment of the East African Community. The motion will be moved by MP Godfrey Maina Mwangi from Kenya.
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MP Fatuma Ndangiza, from Rwanda, said the motion seeks to address an issue of poor remittance of contributions to the bloc, which was presented by journalists at the press conference.
"Based on Articles 143 and 146 of the Treaty, we will be asking countries why sometimes they do not effectively pay contributions as the treaty requires,” she said.
EALA Speaker Joseph Ntakirutimana said that inadequate and delayed contributions had become a big issue in the East African Community, but expressed hope that the Summit of EAC Heads of State’s decision on a new way of financing the bloc could help solve the problem – if effectively implemented.
The 23rd Ordinary Summit of the EAC Heads of State which took place in Arusha, Tanzania, on November 24, agreed on a new financing model which requires the EAC Partner States to contribute equally 65 per cent of the budget, while the remaining 35 per cent of it will be contributed based on the assessment of their average nominal gross domestic product (GDP) per capita for the previous five years as assessed by the World Bank.
The summit also directed the EAC Council of Ministers to pursue strategic spending rationalisation measures, institutional strengthening, and strict sanctions for the defaulting Partner States and report to the 24th Summit.
As of June 22, 2023, South Sudan was the EAC Partner State that owed more to the bloc – $22 million in arrears – without factoring in more than $7.3 million contribution that it had not yet paid for the fiscal year that ended on June 30, according to a report from EALA.
Meanwhile, the 22nd Ordinary Summit of the EAC Heads of State that convened on July 22, 2022, in Arusha, Tanzania, received a request from South Sudan to waive off the balance on her arrears on statutory financial contribution to the East African Community once $15 million was disbursed.
According to a press release issued by the EAC Secretariat on November 25, 2023, the President of South Sudan, Salva Kiir Mayardit, thanked the 22nd Ordinary Summit for waiving the arrears owed by South Sudan to the region and disclosed that the country would henceforth remit its annual contributions on a timely basis.