The East African Community Secretary General Libérat Mfumukeko is on the spot after the bloc’s Council of Ministers faulted him for wrongfully terminating contracts of employees of a peace programme.

Mr Mfumukeko has been at the centre of the row involving employees of the Africa Peace and Security Architecture (APSA) support programme, who accused him of flouting the regional bloc’s rule and regulations.

On June 17, Mr Mfumukeko, wrote to the staff of the European Union/African Union-funded project, informing them that their contracts had been terminate and the project closed due to lack of funds to continue running it.

However, the affected staff moved to court, arguing that Mr Mfumukeko had no powers to terminate their contracts.

They also pointed out that the process to disburse the funds was in its final stages. The 11 employees who were affected filed the case at the East African Court of Justice, seeking to overturn the Secretary General’s decision.

READ: EAC employees in court to protect their contracts

However, the Council of Ministers, meeting from September 1 to 5, rescinded the decision of June 17 to terminate contracts, confirming that Mr Mfumukeko flouted the rules and guidelines of the EAC.

According to the report of the Council of Ministers, a copy of which The EastAfrican has seen, such contracts could only be stopped by the Council of Ministers.

“The staff under the department of Peace and Security were recruited by the Council of Ministers,” the document sated.

“The Secretary General terminated the staff without bringing the matter to the Council,” the report reads, adding that employees must be reinstated due to the importance of the Peace and Security Department to the region.

“The Council noted with concern that the required procedure for termination was not followed, and in future, termination of officers’ contracts under the project should be brought to the Council for approval in accordance with the EAC Rules and Regulations,” the ministers noted.

The decision to rescind the termination letters came days before the convening of the Heads of State Summit.

Emphasising the importance of the Peace and Security Department, the ministers cautioned that terminating the project would hamper different initiatives in place regarding peace and stability in the region.

“Peace and security are prerequisites for the social and economic development of the region. Therefore the Community should maintain the operations of the Department of Peace and Security,” the ministers noted.

There have been questions over the Peace and Security Departments failure to intervene in the Burundi situation but the ministers pointed out that the activities of the organ had been hampered by lack of or delays in funding.

The Council warned that terminating the contracts of the staff would paralyse the activities of the department further.

“It is worth noting that the Council of Ministers had directed the Secretariat to prepare the roadmap to operationalise the Peace and Security Department. Unfortunately, to date, the Secretariat has failed to comply,” the Council noted.

The Council of Ministers allayed fears of lack of funding, which had been raised by Mr Mfumukeko, stating that the peace and security activities can be financed internally, without necessarily waiting for donor funds.

Among the examples cited by the ministers, peace and security activities can be financed by the Maritime Security Project, Regional Electoral Support Project and reallocations of per diems for travel under the same department.

Richard Othieno Owora, the head of corporate communication and public affairs at the EAC, confirmed that the Council of Ministers rescinded the termination letters and asked the APSA project to continue with its work.

“It is true the Council of Ministers reversed the decision and ordered the project to continue with its work,” Mr Owora told The EastAfrican.

Meanwhile, it is not clear if the case, which was supposed to be heard on September 14, will go ahead.

Several correspondences seen by The EastAfrican indicate that the bloc had been advised to settle the matter out of court but the SG had remained adamant.

In an advice note addressed to Mr Mfumukeko, EAC legal counsel Dr Anthony Kafumbe indicated that the termination of contracts of the project staff under the Political Affairs Department was supposed to be done by the Council of Ministers.

Legal opinion

“Dear SG, concerning the notice of termination of service that you have issued to certain professional staff in the Political Affairs Department, I wish to render my opinion as follows.

“That termination of their appointments ought to have been done by the Council. Granted that the affected professional staff, going by their employment contracts are not considered regular staff members under the EAC Staff Rules and Regulations,” the advice note reads.