By The Arusha News Reporter
The East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) has approved a USD 109 million budget for the East African Community (EAC) for the 2025/2026 financial year.
The budget will finance operations, programmes and institutional strengthening across EAC organs and institutions until June 30, 2026.
The budget is less by over three per cent compared to the previous year’s which was $112.98 million.
The EAC Secretariat got the largest share at USD 55.2 million, followed by the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) USD 20.5 million and the Inter University Council for East Africa (IUCEA) USD 10.8 million.
Other allocations include USD 7.6 million for the Lake Victoria Basin Commission and USD 5.05 million for the East African Court of Justice.
Smaller but vital institutions also received funding: The East African Health Research Commission (USD 2.35 million), the East African Science and Technology Commission (USD 2.21 million), the Lake Victoria Fisheries Organisation (USD 2.43 million), the East African Kiswahili Commission (USD 1.64 million) and the East African Competition Authority (USD 1.53 million).
According to EALA’s General Purpose Committee Chairperson, Mr Mukulia Ayason, the budget would support key policy areas, including enhanced regional peace and stability, economic integration, harmonisation of fiscal and monetary systems in preparation for a single currency, climate-resilient infrastructure development and expansion of digital platforms to boost cross-border trade.
Despite these gains, Mr Ayason underscored persistent challenges, including delayed financial contributions from partner states, heavy dependence on donor funding, institutional capacity gaps, staffing shortages, slow implementation of legal reforms, planning inconsistencies, opaque procurement processes and delayed VAT refunds were also cited as key constraints.
The report called for urgent reforms to ensure sustainable development and to unlock the full potential of regional integration.
