The perennial problem of financial insufficiency is hanging over the room, again, at the East African Community, potentially becoming emblematic of the regional bloc’s programmes. And officials say it is a result of poor budgetary contributions by the East African Community partner states which in turn hurts activities of the regional bloc.
These lamentations dominated discussions and speeches during the on-going East African Court of Justice 3rd Judicial conference in Kigali, Rwanda.
Speaker after speaker raised concerns at the lack of funds to run the critical functions of the EAC secretariat, the East African Legislative Assembly as well as the EACJ whose backlog of cases was blamed on the lack of funds and the adhoc nature of the court proceedings.
Nestor Kayobera, the President of the East African Court of Justice said the budgetary constraints are exacerbated by judges of the court serving on adhoc basis. He spoke at the conference in Kigali on Tuesday February 18, 2025.
Kayobera said that the perennial budgetary constraints and the adhoc terms of service for judges mean over 200 cases are pending hearing and determination before the court.
“Budgetary constraints are hampering the operations of the court. As we speak now, we have more than 260 cases which are still pending and the issue is that the judges are not permanent, they are serving on adhoc basis except the President and the Principal Judge who are permanent in Arusha,” said Kayobera.
“So, we sit only quarterly and this means four times for the First Instance Division and Four times for the Appellate Division in a year. This is therefore a very little time given the number of cases that have been filed before the court that need to be looked into by the partner states.”
The EAC has 8 members; Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somali, Rwanda, Burundi, South Sudan and the three founding partner states of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.
Out of a $112.9m for the financial year 2024/2025, partner states are in arrears of over $76m with 4 months remaining to the next financial year.
The total budget allocation to organs and Institutions for the Financial Year 2024/2025 to the EAC stands at $112,984,442 with $67,785,519 (61 percent) majorly coming from the Partner States’ contributions and other internal revenues, and $43,936,292 (39 percent) from Development Partners.
In this year’s budget the EAC Secretariat was allocated $51.6 million; the EACJ): $4.8 million; and the Eala, $20.4 million.
Out of the $7 million that each partner states is expected to remit this financial year, so far only Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda have remitted their full contributions in the past while the rest have substantial huge arrears stretching back over the years.
“The budget is a critical one because the EAC institutions depend on the remittances that are given by each country. Within the 8 there are those that are actually submit their remittances that fund activities within the various organs within the EAC and when that remittance is not given quickly, some of the activities that are supposed to be implemented are affected,” said Beatrice Askul, Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for the EAC ministry and Regional Affairs and chair of the EAC Council of ministers.
“We would like to strengthen this by engaging ministers from partner states to push for the remittances. We need to push each member state and may be engaging the summit to ensure the EAC programmes are running smoothly.”
In her opening remarks at the two-day conference, the guest of honour, the Chief Justice of Rwanda Domitilla Mukantanganzwa underscored the need for collaboration between the national judiciaries of the partner states and the regional court to foster rule of law in the region.
“EACJ has a unique mandate allowing it to have dual jurisdiction over matters of litigation and arbitral nature. This is perfect for commercial justice and dispute resolution,” said CJ Mukantanganzwa.
“Let us be reminded of the profound responsibility that rests on our shoulders as custodians of temples of justice. The Judiciary is the cornerstone of any democratic society, and it is our collective responsibility to safeguard its integrity. As judges, we are not only interpreters of the law but also guardians of its integrity. We must always strive to uphold principles of justice, fairness, and transparency.”
Drawing from the role of the Gachacha courts in restoring harmony in Rwanda after the genocide, Mukantanganzwa said Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanisms should be made an integral part of administration of justice because of its enormous advantages over litigation.
“ADR mechanisms are closer to our traditional way of justice delivery. For many years, the Gachacha courts handled many cases and ensured community participation in a broken society and thus ADR should be made an integral part of administration of justice because of its advantages over litigation,” Mukantanganzwa said.
Mukantanganzwa proposed that it is time for national judiciaries of the partner states and the regional courts to focus on strengthening judicial institutions especially the regional court and having a critical thinking about Artificial Intelligence (AI) in administration of justice.
The EACJ court’s Principal Judge Yohane Masara explained that the court is mandated to interpret matters relating to the Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community (EAC), protocols supporting the treaty and acts of the Eala.
“The court is mandated to interpret and ensure that the treaty is applied according to the letters of the treaty. What unites the people of East Africa is the Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community. So if there is no body charged with the role of interpreting the treaty we cannot have it or the community,” Masara said.
He said the role of the court is to simply interpret the treaty but it also handles cases relating to trade, human rights among others. The court has two divisions, the first instance and the appellate division.
Over 250 jurists, scholars and legal practitioners from the partner states are taking part in the two-day conference which ends on Wednesday February 19, 2025.
