22nd Extra-Ordinary Meeting of EAC Council of ministers ends / Council commends Secretariat and Organs for receiving unqualified accounts
ARUSHA, Tanzania, October 25, 2010/African Press Organization (APO)/ –The 22nd Extra-Ordinary Meeting of the East African Community Council of Ministers ended today in Arusha, Tanzania having considered the Audit Accounts of the Community for the year ended 30 June, 2009 presented by the EAC Audit Commission in accordance with Article 134 of the Treaty for the Establishment of the East African Community. The Council of Ministers commended the EAC Secretariat and the other Organs of the Community for receiving unqualified accounts for the period under review.
The Meeting was attended by among others; Hon. Dr. Diodorus Kamala, Minister of East African Co-operation of the United Republic of Tanzania and who is also the Chairperson of the Council of Ministers; Hon. Monique Mukaruliza, Minister for East African Community Affairs of the Republic of Rwanda; Hon. Prof. Hellen Sambili, Minister of East African Community of the Republic of Kenya; Hon. Hafsa Mossi, Minister of East African Community Affairs of the Republic of Burundi; and Hon. Aston Kajara, Minister of State for Investment of the Republic of Uganda.
Others were Hon. Juma Athumani Kapuya, Minister of Labour, Employment & Youth Development (Tanzania); Hon. Mohamed Aboud Mohamed, Deputy Minister Ministry of East African Cooperation (Tanzania); Hon. Isaac Musumba, Minister of State for Regional Cooperation (Uganda); Permanent Secretaries, members of the Audit Commission and senior officials from the Partner States.
Hon. Mohamed Aboud Mohamed, Deputy Minister Ministry of East African Cooperation on behalf of the Chair of the Council of Ministers congratulated the Republics of Burundi and Rwanda for the recently concluded peaceful and successful election process. The Deputy Minister also hailed the Republic of Kenya for conducting a peaceful referendum and promulgation of the new Constitution.
“These peaceful and successful election and referendum processes are indeed a manifestation of democracy and good governance in our region. We are all very proud of these achievements,” asserted Hon. Mohamed.
The Minister condemned the heinous terrorist attack in various places in Kampala, Uganda during the televised World Cup 2010 finals on Sunday 11 July 2010 that left many East Africans dead and others injured. He said the region strongly condemned in the strongest terms the despicable terrorist acts that has devastated the entire world.
Hon. Mohamed reiterated that the achievement of the regional integration agenda will only be realized if there was accountability and prudent utilization of the scarce resources and hence the importance of the work of the Audit Commission.
The Secretary General of the East African Community, Amb. Juma Mwapachu informed the Ministers that the period between the time when the Extra Ordinary Sectoral Council on Trade was held on 12 July and 10 September when the EALA Session commenced with the sitting of the Accounts Committee in Bujumbura, Burundi had not been a productive one in terms of EAC statutory meetings.
He said the electoral processes that took place in Burundi and Rwanda from the end of June onwards to the Presidential swearing-in ceremonies at the end of August and the second week of September 2010 affected the EAC calendar of statutory meetings.
Amb. Mwapachu reiterated that this was not the first time that the EAC Secretariat had faced such kind of situation. He recalled that EAC Secretariat went through a similar situation when Kenya’s general elections in December 2007 were followed by post-election difficulties. There were no statutory meetings between 24 October and 3 March, 2008. Even the Summit meeting could not take place as per the calendar schedule at the end of November 2007.
He informed the Council of Ministers that the 9th Summit of Heads of State had to meet, instead, in Kigali in June, 2008 and that the Summit addressed itself on the convening of meetings of the EAC Executive Organs and directed the Secretariat to review the quorum issue, including determining requisite amendment of the Treaty and of the Rules of Procedure with a view to enabling the EAC to be more effective.
This process of quorum review had unfortunately taken a long time largely because it hinges on the amendment of the Treaty. Indeed, an Advisory Opinion of the EACJ was sought on the Treaty provisions relating to “consensus” as a way to navigate around the quorum issue. The advisory opinion of the Court was unfortunately unhelpful.
The Sectoral Council on Judicial and Legal Affairs will continue to address this conundrum and propose the best way to respond to the Summit directive on Quorum, Amb. Mwapachu informed the Council of Ministers.
Despite the difficulties EAC Secretariat had faced with statutory meetings, Amb. Mwapachu noted that a number of activities which hinge on EAC’s integration had continued to take place as these activities were not subject to the strict requirements imposed on statutory meetings since they were largely of a technical character.
The Secretary General disclosed that following consultations with the Tanzania Minister for Trade, Dr. Mary Nagu, preparations were underway to re-enter EPA negotiations. Funding had been the problem, but the European Union Delegations in all the five Partner States have agreed to fund the Technical Teams.
Amb. Juma Mwapachu informed the Council that the period between July and September of each year the EAC finds itself in a financial quandary. Being the beginning of the financial year of the Partner States, the flow of funds to the EAC is normally slow and, with it, EAC’s programmes and activities are significantly slowed down. Additionally, with funding for most EAC programmes and projects coming from Regional Integration Support Program (RISP) and the Partnership Fund, EAC finds itself hamstrung. Amb. Juma Mwapachu noted that this kind of situation had to change, noting that “EAC must become more financially robust and self sustaining. Donor dependency for this type of organization implies serious consequences when resources do not flow in”.
The Secretary General wished all Tanzanians in both Tanzania mainland and Zanzibar free, fair and peaceful general elections on 31 October, 2010.
Council considers Audit Commission report
The 22nd Extra-Ordinary Meeting of the Council considered the Audit Commission report which comprised of the Audit Reports of the following Organs and Institutions of the Community and projects: East African Community Secretariat; East African Legislative Assembly; East African Court of Justice; East African Trade and Transport Facilitation Project; East African Capacity Building Project Phase I & II; Lake Victoria Basin Commission (LVBC); Lake Victoria Environment Management Programme II (LVEMP II); Lake Victoria Basin Commission Partnership Fund (LVBC PF); and Civil Aviation Safety and Security Oversight Agency (CASSOA).
The Council requested the Audit Commission to carry out an audit of Partnership Fund Accounts for the financial year ended 30 June 2009, and also requested the Audit Commission to carry out financial and value for money audit of the EAC Secretariat, EACJ, EALA, Institutions, projects and programmes of the Community.
The Council adopted the Audited Accounts of East African Community Secretariat; EALA; EACJ; East African Trade and Transport Facilitation Project; East African Capacity Building Project Phase I & II; Lake Victoria Basin Commission; Lake Victoria Environment Management Programme II (LVEMP II); Lake Victoria Basin Commission Partnership Fund; and the Civil Aviation Safety and Security Oversight Agency for the Financial Year ended 30 June, 2009.
The Council commended the Secretariat and the Organs for receiving unqualified accounts and allowed the EAC Secretariat and Lake Victoria Basin Commission to recruit Internal Audit staff in accordance with the approved Internal Audit Manual.
The EAC Council of Ministers is the Policy Organ of the Community and consists of the Ministers responsible for the East African Community Affairs of each Partner State and such other Ministers of the Partner States as each Partner State may determine.
Visit the link below for more information on the Council of Ministers:
http://www.eac.int/council-of-ministers.html
SOURCE
East African Community (EAC)
