Tanzania’s President John Magufuli used his assertive leadership style to influence decision-making on the endorsement of the new Secretary General at the just concluded East African Community Heads of State Summit in Arusha.

Though the watershed was the appointment of Burundian Liberat Mfumukeko as Secretary General of the EAC Secretariat to replace Rwanda’s Richard Sezibera, whose five-year term ends in April, President Magufuli brought a rare sense of urgency to the proceedings.

Declaring he was not a “protocol person,” President Magufuli persuaded the EAC heads of state to make potentially hard decisions rather quickly while telling the Secretariat that it will not be business as usual under his chairmanship, which was extended by one year to give crisis-hit Burundi time to put its house in order first.

Sources said President Magufuli averted a potential setback when Rwanda protested Burundi’s taking over the Secretary General’s seat for fear that this will give Bujumbura leverage to drive home its repeated accusation that Kigali was out to destabilise President Pierre Nkurunziza’s regime. Kigali denies the claims.

President Magufuli is said to have asked that the heads of state be left alone to reach a decision without all the delegates and reason soon prevailed.

READ: Burundian handed EAC leadership

The president, however, openly put the Secretariat on notice that the days of wanton spending are past. For instance, he questioned the rationale of holding the summit at an exclusive resort when the Secretariat boasts of modern conference facilities.

“The EAC Secretariat should understand the partner states are poor countries. I don’t want it to be a parasite,” President Magufuli warned.

He called for austerity measures as the guiding principle of the Secretariat’s expenditure, given the financial challenges facing the economic bloc. President Magufuli warned that he would be hands-on in the Arusha affairs as he has been with the Tanzania public affairs.

There was no justification for the Summit to be held at the luxurious Safari Lodge hotel where up to $45 was paid for each delegate per day, he noted.

READ: Magufuli extends austerity, anti-graft drive to EAC

Any increases in the EAC budget, the summit resolved, will be based on the principles of equity, solidarity and equality.

Council of Ministers

The presidents ordered the EAC Council of Ministers to submit a report on how the regional body can be funded through contributions by members and levies on imports and exports to non-EAC countries.

READ: EAC plans to tax imports into region

Mr Mfumukeko takes office at a challenging time with the key task being restoration of confidence among donors and partner states that the Secretariat is prudently managed.

Some development partners are holding back funds to the Secretariat on allegations of financial impropriety while others have threatened not to participate in projects where Burundi is involved following President Nkurunziza’s disputed third term.

READ: EAC funding under threat as donors object to Nkurunziza’s third term

Official documents show that disbursements from development partners up to mid February 2016 were only 15 per cent, as the EAC only received $ 7.6 million out of a $ 49.7 million pledge.

Donors had reportedly demanded an audit of the funds earlier disbursed to the Secretariat.

Sweden, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, Norway and the United Kingdom contribute to EAC Partnership Fund. Others are the European Commission and the World Bank.

Reports by the various committees of the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) had called for investigations into misuse of funds at Secretariat.

The audit, which found that as much as $10 million could have been misused or mismanaged, came as the body struggled to raise money from member states and donors to meet its budget.

READ: $10m down the drain as scandal hits Arusha

ALSO READ: Ministers to slash EAC budgets over audit report

The audit found that the EAC Secretariat overspent on some activities without seeking approval from the Council of Ministers. The most notable over-expenditure was on international air tickets and per diems, which were 300 per cent of the budgeted amount.

The audit report published by the EALA Budget Committee found that the Secretariat spent $3.47 million on air travel, or about 10 per cent of its total expenditure in 2012/13 financial year. It also found several anomalies, including tickets issued without authorisation or to wrong people.