East Africa: EAC Boss Warns of Hard Times

PUBLISHED ON April 28th, 2016

East Africa: EAC Boss Warns of Hard Times

Arusha — Newly-appointed East African Community (EAC) secretary general Liberat Mfumukeko hit the ground running on assuming office Monday evening, warning of impending measures to salvage the regional organisation from its current financial crisis.

He said his administration will propose ‘stringent measures’ geared at cost-cutting, value for money, accountability and transparency and that it will not be business as usual as the regional organisation has to cope with unprecedented deficits in its budget.

“Although we have experienced situations of financial instability on regular basis, we never sunk into a deep crisis because our leaders in partner states have always reacted in time,” he said during a welcoming party by the staff members of the Community.

He said the EAC was currently going through challenging financial times and that forecasts for the month of June this year show a deficit of more than $11 million.

The situation has been aggravated by failure by development partners, who account for close to 70 per cent of the annual budget, to disburse about 30 per cent of the expected funds two months before the end of the 2015/2016 fiscal year on June 30th.

Mr Mfumukeko, a Burundi national, assumed the highest office at EAC and succeeded Dr Richard Sezibera from Rwanda whose five year, non-renewable term ended on Monday. Both countries were admitted into the bloc in July 2007 after enjoying a status of observers to the Community from the late 1990s.

He was appointed the fifth secretary general of the Community during the 17th Heads of State Summit held on March 2nd at the Ngurdoto Mountain Lodge outside Arusha. He becomes not only the first Burundi national to hold the post but the first of the 10-plus deputy secretary generals the current EAC has had to be elevated to the secretary general.

He had served as the deputy secretary general in charge of Finance and Administration from February 20th last year. Under the EAC Treaty, each member state should have a deputy secretary general in top executives’ line up at the secretariat except the partner state which produces the secregary general.

Mr Mfumukeko, visibly appeared a no-nonsense executive as he talked to the staff members he would be leading for the next five years, emphasising the major task to redeem the image of the regional organisation, now facing several challenges.

Source: All Africa

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