New twists in the EAC cash woes as legislators miss July pay

Arusha. The East African Community (EAC) on Tuesday said that delay by the member countries to remit their budgetary contributions was reason behind the delayed payment of the July salaries.

The acting deputy secretary general (Finance and Administration) Steven Mlote confirmed that the financial situation was still unstable and  the July salaries for its regional legislators has not been paid.

"It will be paid anytime the financial situation allows", he told journalists in a hastily convened press conference to elaborate on the financial situation at the Arusha-based regional body.

Mr Mlote, who is the deputy SG for Planning and Infrastructure confirmed  the monthly pay for the 54 elected East African Legislative Assembly (Eala) members had not been paid by yesterday.

He added that payment to the respected law makers would be possible after assurances by Uganda which has promised to start making its contributions for the 2019/2020 financial year.

The expenditure budget for the EAC for 2019/2020 fiscal year, which was approved by Eala in June, is estimated at $ 111 million. Each of the six member states is expected to contribute $ 8.3m.

The deputy SG could not say if other countries  in the bloc - Tanzania, Kenya, Burundi, Rwanda and South Sudan had started to remitting their funds.  

He added that 14 employees of the regional organization were on their normal  annual leave and that they would report back to duty once their statutory vacation was over.

The press conference at the EAC headquarters was convened by the secretariat - one of the three organs of the Community - following confusion of on the financial status of the organization.

The East African, a weekly publication, reported last weekend that some EAC staff had deserted their working stations due to the biting cash crunch.