EAC Budget

Legislators express concern over consultancy costs as EAC budget negotiations
continue
BY GEORGE KAGAME

ARUSHA

Representatives to the East African Legislative assembly have criticized the amount of money the East African Secretariat based in Arusha spends on consultancy and capacity building work.

Lydia Wanyote, the Ugandan representative to the EALA said the consultancy work at the EAC secretariat cost 43 percent of the total funds allocated to the office specifically in political programmes is spent on consultants, yet there were experts employed there on a permanent basis.

She was on Wednesday participating in the East African Legislative Assembly debate of the EAC financial budget for 2008/9 that was passed by the EAC Council of Ministers on 17 June in Arusha.


The EAC budget comes only days after member states in the regional political and economical block passed there respective national budgets on 16 June. The total budgetary expense passed by the ministers was estimated at USD 40,499,095.

Presenting the EAC budget to a full house on 17th June, attended by ministers and legislators from all member countries of the East African Community namely Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi, Kenya, and Tanzania, Eriya Kategaya Uganda's minister and Chairman of the EAC Council of Ministers said this year the EAC budget would focus on strengthening the capacity of the regional political block into a more active organization.

Kategeya said the expenditures of the block is estimated to total to USD 40,499,095 with the expenses split to take care of capacity building at the Arusha based secretariat.

Re-branding of the entire EAC talk so that common folks in all member countries can understand what it is about. He said the budget would also fund fast tracking of Rwanda and Burundi's integration into the community.

Rwanda and Burundi joined the EAC in July 2007. He added that the activities of the EAC secretariat will cost a whopping USD 23,639,774, with the secretariat taking USD 7,348,643 Presenting the budget, Kategaya had earlier said the community faced a challenge of relying too much on donor support to run the activities while some partner states were reluctant to pay their obligatory membership fee.

Rwanda, according to Kategaya had expressed commitment to pay its dues before the end of this financial year.
He added that the issue of travel and conference facilities expenses causes trouble in the effective running the community affairs saying that legislators on committees, negotiators often travel among member countries to hold sessions. The EAC parliament is host roundly by the five member countries and the next session will resume in Kigali with Rwanda hosting the EAC presidential summit in July 2008. The budget also caters for on going feasibility studies concerning the EAC Railways Master Plan, this year USD 200,000 will be spent t undertake research activities in the railway line that connects Kigali, Dar Salaam, Nairobi, Kampala, and Bujumbura.

In the outskirts of Nairobi construction works for the EAC railway is underway, while early this month, President Paul Kagame while speaking at the Leon H Sullivan summit in Arusha said Rwanda and Tanzania were already in advanced negotiations for a railway line linking Kigali to Dar Salaam. It also seeks to create an industrial and investment development strategy study to implement a harmonious industrial and investment policy in all the member states of the EAC.


The budget also caters for a regional homogenous tourism and wild management policy, this policy seeks to market and promote East Africa as a single tourist destination.
Rwandan Minister of the East African Community and the newly elected representatives to the assembly are attending the negotiations but The New Times was not able to get a comment from her by press time.

EALA members reacted variably on the budget passed by the EAC ministers with Lydia Wanyote from Uganda saying; "there's need for reforms at boarder customs posts as one way to utilize the agricultural advantage of the EAC, this will reduce the increasing food prices because East Africans can trade easily if conditions at customs posts like installing freezers and coolers were put in place."


President Paul Kagame has on several occasions called for similar reforms at boarder points as East Africa seeks to achieve growth. Wanyote said the EAC uniform customs policy would be in place by 2010,

In a related development, the East African Community has stepped up measures to increase investment on Lake Victoria so as the lake, which serves in the excess of 100 million in the region can have sustainable development for local communities.
Reacting to the EAC budget, Lydia Wanyote said the fund is important for the long term preservation of the lake. T

he fund known as the Lake Victoria Basin Commission replaces the older Lake Victoria Management Programme and will cost USD 246 million, the project will be funded by The World Bank and many other donors. Rwanda so far is the only the country in the region that has began work on the project.


ENDS
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