RELIEF IN ARUSHA AS EAC BUDGET SAGA ENDS

 

Relief was evident on the faces of the  East African Community (EAC) staff in Arusha after last week's passing of a budget which stalled for months.

Employees at the organization's headquarters were upbeat that business would continue as usual now that the saga which threatened to divide the bloc was over.

"It's all systems go now. We are happy that the cash crisis would not bite,at least for now", said a staff member  on condition of anonymity.

He added that the six nation economic bloc should now focus on strengthening  the integration projects and forget the dark past of serious cash woes.

However, he said despite the cash crisis, he could not remember a time when they missed their monthly salaries and other basic emoluments.

The East African Legislative Assembly (Eala) Speaker Martin Ngoga who guided the tense House into passing the estimates warned against a replica of the recent stalemate.

He said he had sensed that the estimates were set to hit a brick wall again last week when the lawmakers appeared to be sharply split on the estimates tabled.

"I managed to have them put the interests of East Africa first. It paid off although some opposed the budget during the voting", he told journalists.

 

The $97.6million expenditure funds for the Community for 2020/2021 fiscal year were passed during a virtual session after several failed attempts since last September.

Even then, the exercise had to go into voting after the MPs from all the six partner states at the session failed to agree unanimously on who called the tune.

Thirty three lawmakers voted in favour of the budget, subsequently sailing through, as opposed to nine who voted against on grounds of some irregularities.

Officials of the Secretariat, the executive organ of the Community, said they expected the operations of the EAC to proceed smoothly.

The Secretariat,which will get a half ($48.5million) of the entire budget, has immense powers on the finances of the Community and its organs and institutions.

One of its senior officials rubished fears that the budget, tabled as EAC Appropriation Bill,2020, could fail to get assent from some of the partner states.

"We cannot rule out this but for now we don't expect such a thing to happen", he said, noting that in a likelihood of this, the matter will go to the Council of Ministers.

The ministerial council is a powerful policy organ of the Community which works closely with the Secretariat and  is second only to the Heads of State.

However, the Secretariat's official said the release of money for the Community operations would not cause any visible positive changes at the EAC headquarters.

"There are not many meetings because of Covid-19", he said, noting that even the coming Heads of State Summit on February 27th would be held virtually.

Mosses Allan, the President of Friends of East Africa, an Arusha-based  lobby group on regional integration, said the passing of the stalled budget was a great relief.

"It is a breakthrough for EAC. Without a budget, the EAC would not function as an institution", he said, noting that people have to be sensitized enough on it.

He challenged the regional organization and its partner states to focus their energies on the fight against Covid-19 which has impacted heavily on some economic sectors like tourism.

Ms Maryam Ussi, a lawmaker from Tanzania, argued for 'consensus making' so as to resolve problems which frequently come to fore whenever a budget is tabled at the EAC.

She said each of the three organs; the Council of Ministers, Eala and the Secretariat have its role in budget preparation, scrutiny, tabling, discussing, approving  even rejecting the estimates.

Sharp divisions emerged on January 27th when the budget estimates which had stalled for months were tabled during a virtual sitting of the  House.

MPs from the six partner states who took the floor were vocal with each of them attributing the delay to overlapping roles of key organs.

The $ 97.6million budget estimates for 2020/2021 financial year will now be sent to the Heads of State for assent before funds release.

It took seven months for the expenditure funds to be appropriated and this is only five months before the end of the current fiscal year.

"We expect the assent will be fast-tracked because the current financial year is nearing the end", Mr. Ngoga said.

It was no easy task as the experienced Rwandan lawmaker at the helm of Eala managed to have the MPs vote to approve the estimates. 

During the voting, which was preceded by a tense debate which apparently isolated Tanzania and Burundi,33 MPs who were in the House were in favour while nine were against.