As members default, EAC’s integration dream hits financial reality

An internal memo dated January 27 from EAC Secretary General, Veronica Nduva, to the Clerk of EALA (seen by The Citizen) sought an explanation for the non-payment of salaries since November 2025.

The financial strain has even resulted in commercial banks struggling to recover loan instalments from MPs whose incomes have stalled, an issue that was raised by Kenyan EALA MP David Sankok.

Mr Sankok, while speaking to a local television, said: “It has been difficult to receive our salaries regularly. When sittings are adjourned frequently, it becomes very difficult to execute our legislative mandate effectively.”

Behind the salary delays lies a deeper structural problem: the failure of several Partner States to remit their statutory contributions to the Community’s budget.

Under the current financing arrangement, each of the eight member states is required to contribute $7 million annually as an equal share.

These contributions finance salaries for MPs, judges and staff, as well as the operations of the Secretariat and other organs headquartered in Arusha.

When even one country defaults, the entire institutional machinery feels the shock.

In an interview with The Citizen recently, Tanzanian EALA MP, Dr Abdullah Hasnu Makame, stressed that, still, only four countries, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda, have consistently honoured their obligations.

South Sudan, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Somalia have struggled to remit contributions on time, with some accumulating significant arrears.

Dr Makame said that South Sudan’s outstanding arrears once exceeded $45 million.

When the country assumed the EAC chairmanship, the Summit announced that the debt would be forgiven after it paid $15 million.

He argued that such a decision lacks legal grounding under the EAC Treaty.

“The Treaty does not provide for cancellation of debt. It must either be paid or a lawful repayment arrangement established,” he said.

“By waiving it, we create a dangerous precedent. Already, Burundi has requested similar treatment.”

Kenyan MP Sankok echoed the frustration, saying the burden has effectively fallen on compliant states.

“It is the money from four countries that is sustaining the entire Assembly, including representatives from non-remitting states. The DRC, for example, has never paid a coin,” he claimed.

The legal framework of the Community appears clear. Articles 143 and 146 provide mechanisms for enforcing compliance.

Article 143 allows for sanctions against a Partner State that fails to meet its obligations, while Article 146 provides for suspension in cases of serious and persistent violation of the Treaty.

Yet these provisions remain dormant.

Dr Makame describes the situation as a failure of enforcement rather than absence of law.

He notes that sanctions and suspension require action by the Heads of State upon recommendation of sectoral ministers, but such recommendations have not been operationalised.

Directives issued at Summit level frequently stall at ministerial implementation stage.

“It is astonishing that Heads of State issue clear instructions, yet implementation does not follow,” he said.

“This is a Treaty-based Community. Deviating from it at regional level is equivalent to violating the Constitution at national level.”

Stagnation in the integration agenda

The financial crisis also reflects broader stagnation in the integration agenda, according to Dr Makame.

In 2013, the EAC adopted the Monetary Union Protocol, outlining a 10-year roadmap from 2014 to 2024 to establish institutions necessary for a single currency, including surveillance and regulatory bodies that would culminate in an East African Central Bank.

In 2022, finance ministers extended the deadline to 2031, acknowledging slow progress.

To date, none of the four key institutions envisaged under the protocol has been established, despite enabling legislation passed by EALA.

But beyond the immediate budgetary stress, regional observers argue that the unfolding crisis is a test of leadership at the highest level.

Writing in Rwanda’s The New Times, regional governance expert Mr Mugendi Nyaga described the choice of the next EAC Secretary General as “a make-or-break moment for the Jumuiya,” warning that the bloc risks drifting into institutional paralysis if competence and reform credentials are subordinated to political compromise.

“The next Secretary General must be more than a ceremonial coordinator,” Mr Nyaga argued.

“He or she must be a reformist with the courage to enforce compliance and the diplomatic skill to build consensus among Partner States.”

He cautioned that the EAC’s expansion from three to eight member states has significantly increased complexity, without a corresponding strengthening of enforcement mechanisms.

“Enlargement without discipline,” he wrote, “creates a wider table but weaker cohesion.”

Mr Nyaga further warned that chronic non-remittance of contributions signals not merely fiscal distress but waning political commitment.

“If Partner States cannot finance the institutions they have created, then integration becomes rhetoric rather than reality,” he observed.

His argument speaks directly to the current salary impasse.

An institution unable to pay its legislators and staff risks eroding public trust and investor confidence in the wider integration project.

The budgetary conundrum

Budget constraints and limited political commitment have repeatedly delayed implementation.

Recent EAC budget reports indicate that the Community’s annual budget has hovered between $100 million and $110 million in recent years, with Partner State contributions forming a core component alongside development partner support.

Delayed remittances have created recurring cash flow crises, undermining programme execution and institutional stability.

Regional integration analyst Prof Samuel Msofe argued that the equal contribution model may no longer be sustainable in an expanded eight-member bloc with vastly different economic capacities.

“A formula reflecting GDP size or fiscal strength,” he suggests, “could enhance fairness and compliance.” However, according to Dr Makame, the matter has been discussed at ministerial level but remains unresolved.

Beyond finances, the credibility of the integration project is under strain.

Despite protocols guaranteeing free movement and good neighbourliness, member states occasionally impose trade restrictions and close borders, sometimes resolving disputes outside formal Community mechanisms.

Such actions, experts warn, erode trust and weaken institutional authority.

Dr Makame sees the crisis as fundamentally about accountability.

“The Treaty is binding law. If sanctions exist but are never invoked, commitments risk becoming symbolic rather than enforceable.”

In this context, Mr Nyaga’s warning appears particularly prescient.

“Regional integration,” he wrote, “is sustained by predictability, rule-based governance and shared sacrifice. Once these are compromised, the architecture begins to crack from within.”

Dr Makame’s assessment is stark. “The EAC is currently in ICU. The doctors are the Heads of State. They must sit, identify the cracks and fix them urgently.”

He warns that another collapse would be far more damaging than that of 1977. The revival in 1999 was accompanied by solemn commitments that the Community would never again disintegrate due to mismanagement and mistrust.

“If it were to fail now, rebuilding confidence across eight member states would be exponentially harder,” he said.

Proposals to stabilise the bloc include enforcing Treaty provisions on sanctions where necessary, reforming the contribution formula to reflect economic realities, insulating salary payments from political delays and attaching binding timelines to Summit directives.

Ultimately, however, the survival of the EAC hinges less on legal text and more on political will.

“Integration cannot survive on speeches alone,” Prof Msofe said. “It requires discipline, enforcement and respect for collective obligations.”