EAC leaders’ summit in Tanzania postponed over lack of quorum

What you need to know:

  • Kenya and Tanzania, who are the best performers in remittances, have lately slowed down their payments to express their displeasure with the conduct of other members.

The summit of heads of state of the six-member East African Community (EAC) scheduled for 30th November in Arusha, Tanzania has been postponed to a later date over the lack of quorum, APA can report on Tuesday.

According to an official correspondence from the Rwandan minister of State in charge of East African Community (EAC) Affairs, Olivier Nduhungirehe, a new date in January or February will be communicated later after consultations between EAC Heads of State.

President Paul Kagame of Rwanda who is assuming the current chairmanship of the summit, announced the postponement for later next year after the absence of the representatives from one member country.

Meanwhile, other reports said Burundi is reported to have requested for the postponement of the summit due to its domestic issues, including matters pertaining to preparation for the 2020 elections.

The postponement comes at a time that the EAC Secretariat has expressed concerns about low budget support by member states, which has been blamed for the stalling of several programmes.

Estimates show that South Sudan and Burundi have been the main defaulters of contributions to the bloc.

Kenya and Tanzania, who are the best performers in remittances, have lately slowed down their payments to express their displeasure with the conduct of other members.

According to budget documents, the EAC is about $100 million in arrears for the 2018/19 fiscal year, blamed on the outstanding debt of member states