East Africa Legislative Assembly in Arusha, Tanzania - Photo credit - EALA website

The East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) passed the regional bloc’s fiscal year 2024-2025 budget amounting to $114 million on Friday, representing an 8.7% increase from the $103 million budget of the previous year.

About 61 percent of the budget will be funded through contribution from partner states and the remaining 39 percent from developmental partners.

The EAC Secretariat has been allocated $51,677,120; the East African Court of Justice $4,858,553 and Eala $20,469,040.

The budget will be used to steer sustainable economic growth and social development across the EAC member states through investment in climate change mitigation and adaptation.

It also allocated substantial amounts to various initiatives aimed at conflict resolution, law enforcement enhancement, and regional cooperation to address security challenges.

South Sudan’s Minister for East African Affairs Deng Alor Kuol tabled the budget to the bloc’s legislative assembly on Wednesday, and urged lawmakers to debate and approve it.

Minister Alor warned that the Financial Year comes at a time when the EAC economies are “experiencing unfavorable global and financial conditions.

He partly attributes this to the geo-political conflicts and the negative impact of climate change on the economic performances of the partner states.

He noted that the high fuel and food prices have put pressure on the exchange rates and foreign reserves across member states.

Many programmes of the East African Community (EAC) have reportedly stalled in the past few months due to a cash crunch blamed on non-remittance of dues amounting to about $40 million by partner States.

The East African Court of Justice (EACJ) announced last month that it would not be holding court sessions scheduled for June 2024 due to funding crisis.

The regional tribunal said it deeply regrets the postponement of scheduled session of the First Instance Division in June 2024, due to delayed contribution from partner states.

EACJ said the challenge significantly impedes its primary function, which is to promptly hear and adjudicate cases brought before it.