THE East African Legislative Assembly (EALA), has passed the East African Community (EAC), Budget estimates amounting to 111,450,529 US dollars (256.3bn/-) that was tabled by the Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation, Dr Damas Ndumbaro last week.

The House at the session on Friday evening resolved itself into a Committee of Ways and Means and a Committee of Supply to consider and approve the Financial Statement and approve the estimates of expenditure and revenue for the next Financial Year (FY).

The General Purpose Committee called on the Council of Ministers to regularly submit to the Assembly the budget estimates in a timely manner, in line with the provisions of Section 4 of the EAC Budget Act.

Chairman of the Committee, Mr Abdikadir Aden said that regular submission would allow for ample time for EALA to scrutinize the budget. In a related aspect, the House raised concern about the continued delayed remittances to the Community.

With a theme ‘Transforming Lives through Industrialization and Job Creation for Shared Prosperity’, the Chair of Council of Ministers, Mr Maganda Julius Wandera, said the priority interventions for FY 2019/2020, include consolidation of the Single Customs Territory and promotion of intra and extra EAC trade and export competitiveness, development of regional infrastructure, effective implementation of the Common Market Protocol and the enhancement of regional industrial development.

The EAC Budget is appropriated to EAC Secretariat ($53,296,404), EALA ($18,973,845) and the East African Court of Justice ($4,225,241).

The Inter- University Council for EAC receives $9,586,426, Lake Victoria Basin Commission ($13,193,849) while $ 4,061,145 is earmarked for the Lake Victoria Fisheries Organization.

On the other hand, the East African Science and Technology Commission gets $ 1,915,073), East African Kiswahili Commission ($ 1,474,775), and the East African Health Research Commission ($ 3,996,270), while the East African Competition Authority receives $727,501.

Last Tuesday, the House had to be adjourned to the next day for deliberations on the estimates, due to absence of majority of the members of the Council of Ministers, with only Burundi’s EAC Minister, Ms Isabelle Ndahayo in attendance.

In her motion, Ms Rose Akol, lamented over the absence of the members of the Council of Ministers who occupy the frontbench.

She added that ideally, in the respective EAC ministries for every minister there is a deputy minister. She said it was absurd just to have one in attendance.

Source: Daily News

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