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East African Legislative Assembly holds virtual budget session as funding crisis bites
What you need to know:
- The session, conducted online due to financial constraints, successfully reviewed the budget and submitted it to the General Purpose Committee for further scrutiny.
Arusha. The East African Legislative Assembly (Eala) held a virtual session on Tuesday, June 3, 2025, to deliberate on the supplementary budget for the 2024/2025 financial year and the proposed estimates for the 2025/2026 fiscal year.
The session, conducted online due to financial constraints, successfully reviewed the budget and submitted it to the General Purpose Committee for further scrutiny.
The Chairperson of the EAC Council of Ministers, Beatrice Askul Moe, presented two key financial bills 'the East African Community Supplementary Appropriation Bill, 2025 and the Supplementary Appropriation (No.2) Bill, 2025'.
In addition, she tabled two other bills 'the EAC Seeds and Plant Varieties Bill, 2025 and the EAC Customs Management (Amendment) Bill, 2025'.
These were read for the first time and referred to the Committees on Agriculture, Tourism and Natural Resources, and Communications, Trade and Investment for in-depth analysis.
Traditionally, Eala sessions are held in-person at the EAC headquarters in Arusha.
However, this virtual format was adopted due to limited financial resources.
The session was made possible through a loan of $660,690 facilitated by EAC institutions and affiliated organizations.
This virtual convening marks a significant achievement for the regional body, especially after repeated postponements of key activities including budget discussions due to acute financial shortfalls.
Earlier, on April 29, 2025, Eala members unanimously agreed to temporarily suspend budget deliberations until the EAC Council of Ministers could meet and allocate the necessary funds for the process.
Following this decision, the EAC Council of Ministers convened an emergency session on May 29, 2025, where it urged the Assembly to invoke Rule 10(5a) of the Assembly’s Standing Orders, which permits virtual sittings.
It also resolved to provide the Assembly with the $660,690 loan to facilitate the budget deliberations and approval process.
The EAC continues to grapple with financial challenges, largely due to delays and defaults in member state contributions.
Each of the eight member states is required to contribute $7 million annually to support the operations of the Community.
As of April 2025, only the founding member states Uganda (102 percent), Tanzania (100 percent), and Kenya (100 percent) had fulfilled their contributions.
Rwanda has contributed 75 percent, Somalia 50 percent Burundi 19 percent, the Democratic Republic of Congo 14 percent, and South Sudan only 7 percent.
For the 2024/2025 fiscal year, the EAC budget stands at $112.98 million. Of this, $67.79 million (61 percent) is expected from member state contributions and internal revenues, while the remaining $43.94 million (39 percent) is anticipated from development partners.
Chairperson Moe said that the financial crisis remains a critical impediment to the effective execution of EAC's mandate.
She urged member states to honor their financial commitments and proposed that the Assembly consider enforcement measures, including sanctions, to compel compliance.
