BY THE ARUSHA NEWS REPORTER
The East African Community (EAC) will implement a new membership fee structure starting July 1, 2026, in which 50 per cent of contributions will be determined based on each partner state’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), as part of efforts to strengthen the bloc’s financial sustainability, according to the newly appointed Secretary General (SG), Amb Stephen Mbundi, who assumed office last week.
Amb Mbundi told journalists soon after that he planned to meet all EAC heads of state individually to learn their priorities and how to put the house in order.
Amb Mbundi succeeded Kenya’s Ms Veronica Nduva at a difficult time for the bloc, as it seeks to improve efficiency amid expansion and rising expectations. He will be in office for a five-year non-renewable term to 2031.
“My first priority is to ensure that member states fulfil their financial commitments on time,” he said, signalling a push to address chronic funding gaps that have slowed service delivery.
EAC’s sustainability will rely heavily on improved domestic resource mobilisation amid thawed donor support.
Adopted at the recent 25th Ordinary Summit of the heads of state in Arusha, the new model replaces the previous 65:35 structure and requires partner states to fund half of the budget equally, with the remaining 50 per cent based on assessed deductions from import duty for a bloc that has a customs union and a common market protocol.
Generally, each partner state is expected to contribute about dollars 8,371,320 annually in membership fees. Only hosts Tanzania and Kenya had as of January 31, 2026, fully met their financial obligations for the 2025/26 financial year.
According to reliable sources, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) was as of January 31, this year in membership arrears of dollars 27 million, the highest figure, while Burundi and South Sudan were each yet to pay dollars 22.7 million and dollars 21.8 million respectively. Somalia, owed the Community dollars 10.5 million, Rwanda dollars 5.2 million and Uganda dollars 1.1 million.
The leaders had agreed during their Summit, to waive 50 per cent of the arrears owed by defaulting partner states as a one-off measure, on condition that the balance was cleared within two years, with strong wording to either “pay-up or pack-up,” which some saw as a tragic but inevitable eventuality if partners chronically failed to meet their commitments.
The financing shift aligns with the launch by the heads of state of the EAC’s Seventh Development Strategy (2026/27–2030/31), a five-year roadmap that focuses on deepening integration and improving livelihoods across the region.
The strategy prioritises trade expansion by eliminating non-tariff trade barriers, developing infrastructure, fostering industrial growth and advancing digital and green climate transformation. It also emphasises peace and security, with leaders calling for a ceasefire in eastern DRC and endorsing a unified peace framework.
“The new SG’s leadership will be judged by whether stronger financial discipline and the new financing framework will deliver tangible gains in trade, integration and living standards across East Africa,” said the EAC Think Tank (EACTT) President, Mr Philip Wambugu. The EACTT, is an NGO made up of former staff of the Community.
Analysts said Amb Mbundi’s performance will be closely watched as the bloc seeks to maintain momentum on trade, free movement of goods and people, as well as the expectation that institutional reforms will result into stronger financial discipline, a key factor in service delivery and restoring confidence in EAC as an organ of shared regional destiny.
